2009 research and mapping for London Events Forum (LEF) and for Arts Council England

Outdoor arts events and activity in London

Final report: May 2010

Arts Council England working in partnership with the London Events Forum commissioned this research and mapping.

Freelance event managers and consultants Annie Grundy and Sarah Morton carried it out in consultation with Arts Council England and the steering committee of the London Events Forum, with support from the London Cultural Improvement Programme. Outdoor arts events and activity in London

Contents

4 Foreword on behalf of London Events Forum by Paul Cowell 5 Foreword on behalf of Arts Council England by Clive Lyttle 7 Introduction 9 Assessment of themes with recommendations: 9 Outdoor events matter 10 Outdoor arts events and activity 12 Strategies, monitoring and aspirations 14 Funding for outdoor arts events and activity 17 Support for outdoor arts events and activity 17 Processes for outdoor arts events and activity 20 Communications, marketing and partnerships 22 Staffing 23 Conclusion

Contents continued page 3 Contents continued

Appendices

24 Outdoor arts events and outdoor events that include the arts: a list of the events in the London boroughs and in the City of London identified through the research

28 Local authority profile reports plus the City of London Corporation report

28 Barking and Dagenham 34 Barnet 38 Bexley 42 Brent 47 Camden 52 City of London Corporation 57 Croydon 60 Ealing 64 Enfield 69 Greenwich 73 Hackney 79 Hammersmith and Fulham 85 Haringey 89 Harrow 93 Hillingdon 97 Hounslow 100 Islington 105 Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 108 Royal Borough of Kingston 111 Lambeth 115 Lewisham 119 Merton 123 Newham 126 Redbridge 129 Richmond 133 Southwark 139 Sutton 142 Tower Hamlets 145 Waltham Forest 148 Wandsworth 151 City of Westminster

155 Process maps: examples of how applications for events in outdoor spaces are processed

161 Local authority key information

165 Main contacts for outdoor arts events in the London boroughs London has a long tradition of producing world-class festivals and cultural events that gain national and international recognition. From Notting Hill Carnival to Carnaval del Pueblo, A Baishakhi Mela to Dagenham Town Show, whether it is on a housing estate, on public roads or in a local park, the 32 London boroughs and the City of London support thousands of festivals and cultural events bringing together millions of people, playing an important part in creating a dynamic and exciting world city.

London Events Forum (LEF) was formed in October 2008 to provide an improvement network for event professionals working within local government across London. It was clear from the outset that different boroughs had different approaches to the management and coordination of festivals and events, and different perceptions of their contribution in a wider cultural and social context.

Festivals and events can make a major impact on the agendas of community cohesion and well-being. Participation broadens horizons, increases life chances, taps potential, realises aspirations, improves educational attainment and contributes to health through feelings of self-worth and well-being. Events create vibrant public spaces, bring positive economic benefits and improve reputations...all this and yet, in most cases, there is still relatively little or no investment in resources and skills to support the increasing number of festivals and events and the impact on workloads.

This research takes a snapshot of life today and looks at how we, the London boroughs, might move forward strategically and pragmatically, to ensure that, as we work both individually and together, we build on the diverse array of existing creative, fun and safe events and move towards London 2012, with the capacity and skills to deliver world-class events that meet and exceed the standards we set.

London Events Forum (LEF) and its partners are working to raise the profile of the important work of local government events professionals in London: developing ways to improve current processes, developing skills, supporting peers and creating new ways of working that will facilitate more outdoor arts events across London. A series of projects have been planned in a two-year programme, of which this piece of research is the first.

We would like to thank the Arts Council England, the London Culture Improvement Programme and Capital Ambition (London’s Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership) for their invaluable support, and of course all the local authority officers who have given up their time to support and advise on the entire programme.

Paul Cowell Events, Film and 2012 Manager Southwark Council In June 2008 Arts Council England launched New Landscapes, a plan for the development of high-quality outdoor arts activity across England, to include both performance and visual arts based work.

New Landscapes made a number of recommendations about understanding and improving the working environment for outdoor arts, building a clearer picture of working practices, and increasing the longer-term sustainability of the sector. It recognised the unique and crucial role of local authorities, as supporters, funders, licensors and promoters of outdoor arts events and activity.

The Mayor of London’s cultural strategy direction of travel document, Cultural metropolis has also acknowledged the importance of this sector to the capital, and the opportunities to strengthen London’s festivals and outdoor events, particularly in the context of the Cultural Olympiad and London’s 2012 legacy ambitions.

Arts Council England established an external advisory group to oversee the implementation of New Landscapes in London, with representation from local authorities, Greater London Authority (GLA), London Events Forum (LEF), and arts organisations working in the sector. This group identified variations in how outdoor events are currently supported by London’s local authorities, and an often complex set of contacts and permissions that organisers were required to navigate before putting on an event. There was a clear consensus about the need to remove barriers and extend good practice in this area.

Arts Council England, in partnership with the London Events Forum, therefore commissioned this research and mapping of current... approaches to supporting outdoor arts events among London’s local authorities. As part of the London Cultural Improvement Programme, further funding from Capital Ambition has been secured to take forward key recommendations rising from this research, and to support London Events Forum in our shared objective to improve efficiencies and processes of staging outdoor arts events across London.

London has a great reputation in producing outdoor arts events. These range from events such as the Lewisham’s Peoples show, highlighting local and national talent, to The Sultans Elephant and Notting Hill Carnival. Events such as these have a great ability to engage and empower audiences and are often the first chance for people to enjoy arts activities.

This report looks at how the London boroughs support and present outdoor events. There is a range of knowledge within each borough and different approaches to supporting event production: for example, London Notting Hill Carnival event production sits within the waste management department of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, due to the impact the event has on litter.

Arts Council England is pleased to support this report and the work of the London Events Forum as part of the London Cultural Improvement Programme (LCIP). This research provides a solid starting point to develop good practice and share experience between local authorities. There exists a wealth of knowledge and expertise in event production within the boroughs and this document provides a chance to review and share this.

This research will also inform the next stages of the LCIP Events Improvement programme, including the development of a London-wide events toolkit, outlining key processes and an agreed set of principles, standards and guidelines to help organisers deliver successful, safe and high-quality outdoor arts events in London boroughs.

We would like to thank everyone for their input into this research and look forward to continued working with London Events Forum, and the London Culture Improvement Programme to increase the opportunity for people to engage with great art in London’s open spaces.

Clive Lyttle Arts Council England Introduction

Arts Council England, in partnership with the London Events Forum, commissioned this research into current approaches to supporting outdoor arts events across London’s local authorities.

The research examined existing processes and resources and how these affect arts and cultural organisations, community groups, commercial partners and local authority events managers involved in staging outdoor events in London’s parks, streets and open spaces. It considered how local authority support for outdoor arts can be improved, and makes recommendations to inform future investment and joint work.

Key objectives

The key objectives of the research were:

- to map the current resources and processes in place across London’s local authorities to support, enable and grant permissions to stage outdoor arts events. This involved mapping:
  - the role and skills needs of key local authority staff across events, arts, licensing and other departments
  - application processes and policies for outdoor events
  - guidance and advisory resources and services.
- to highlight how variations in the above are affecting the number and range of outdoor arts events in each area
- to identify good practice and barriers to good practice, and to make recommendations on further joint work to extend good practice and promote minimum standards.

Methodology

The methodology for this research included:

- collating existing information, reports and data
- identifying key individuals and organisations to be consulted
- face to face interviews with over 80 relevant local authority officers (predominantly staff working in events, arts and parks, but also where available staff working in licensing, traffic management, health and safety and environmental health) from 29 of London’s local authorities and the City of London Corporation
- gathering questionnaire forms completed by officers in a further two local authorities
- interviews with representatives of the Greater London Authority, London councils and the Thames Festival
- preparing borough profile reports for 32 London boroughs and for the City of London Corporation.

The borough profile reports

The borough profile reports are attached as appendices and form the backbone of the research. They are snapshots of how the London boroughs deliver, facilitate and support outdoor arts events and activities.

Some reports are more comprehensive than others. It should be noted that research was carried out in late 2009, and the intervening months have been a period of change for many local authorities.

Overview

Each of the borough profiles are as unique as the boroughs themselves, but there were many similar examples of best practice as well as similarly shared examples of barriers to improving the provision of outdoor arts events and activity.

Our report presents its findings under themed headings. Each section outlines the relevance of the theme, examples of common and best practice and, where appropriate, recommends ways to overcome any barriers identified. Also where appropriate, statistics collated from the borough profile reports are given.

The research has focused on outdoor arts events and activities, which is to say events that are either entirely arts-centred or community festivals and events that have significant arts content. The report is however also relevant to the thousands of non-arts events held across London, such as sporting events and festive markets.

Responses and reactions to the carrying out of this research have been very positive in all of the London boroughs where local authority officers were interviewed, with people expressing high hopes for the streamlining of processes, cross-borough working, benchmarking and staff development and for the opportunities and efficiencies that these will generate. Outdoor events matter

It is clear from the research that the boroughs with the strongest outdoor arts event programmes are mostly those where there is, at a senior level, a solid and explicit understanding of the far-reaching benefits of well devised and well managed, outdoor arts events and activity.

These boroughs understand how outdoor arts events contribute to the wider agendas for improved health, education, and well-being at the same time as generating economic opportunities. They also recognise that outdoor events are a great catalyst for community cohesion and are key to promoting a sense of belonging in local communities.

There are also, however, boroughs with committed staff who understand the benefits of outdoor events and who deliver, facilitate and support significant outdoor events, despite a lack of priority or understanding from senior officers and decisionmakers.

Outdoor arts events are typically linked to the National Indicator 11 (NI11) for engagement with the arts, but in reality their impact is much wider. Where local authorities acknowledge the wider impact, they invest in their events programme accordingly, not only providing dedicated, professional staff who deliver or facilitate outdoor events, but also funding large council-led community celebration events, such as Brent Respect and Lewisham People’s Day, or – as in Camden – making available arts grants targeted specifically at organisations wishing to stage outdoor events.

The boroughs saw the main benefits of outdoor events as:

- promoting and facilitating community cohesion
- encouraging access to outdoor spaces and thereby promoting healthy living and well-being
- increasing access to and engagement with the arts
- developing a sense of place and belonging
- generating an income for the boroughs through commercial hires
- positive economic impact of events (through jobs, concessions and visitor spend)
- council-led events improving public perceptions of the council
- providing opportunities for statutory bodies to put across key campaign messages
- raising people’s horizons and increasing their life chances and educational attainment through participation
- creating vibrant public spaces and town centres
- attracting visitors – often to areas of London that are not typically tourist destinations.

The research identified over 450 named annual outdoor arts events held on local authority land. Add to this all the non-arts events, events held on non-local authority land and one-off arts events that are not annual, and one begins to get a picture of how huge the event industry actually is in London. Moreover, this industry is increasingly professionally managed and the expectations and demands made of community-based event organisers are no different to those made of professional, commercial or council event organisers.

It is therefore far from just the audiences who reap benefits from outdoor events. Thousands of equipment and service companies in the event industry support these events – from security and stewarding companies to tent companies, from professional musicians and performers to artists and craft workers, from catering companies to event production companies. companies. Outdoor events are the economic life-blood of thousands of individuals and businesses.

Alongside the considerable benefits of events, there can of course be issues such as noise and disruption. However, event organisers in London are creatively finding ways to overcome these issues and to work with residents to minimise any difficulties.

**Good practice**

In Southwark there is an example of how local communities benefit from events and how issues can be resolved. Due to its excellent location on the Thames near City Hall and Tower Bridge, Potters Fields Park in Southwark was much in demand for private and commercial hires but residents often opposed them or, if they went ahead, complained about the noise, litter and disruption – particularly to parking. This situation has since been completely turned around. A trust, with local representatives was set up four years ago to manage the space which is leased to them by the council. The trust ring-fences income from commercial and corporate hires and this is used to fund community events and to support local community groups and activities. The residents therefore feel much greater ownership of the space and can also identify the direct benefits that come from events in the space.

**Case study**

Waltham Forest has recently consulted its residents on outdoor arts events as part of a wider consultation to inform its cultural strategy. The consultation report notes that the popularity of outdoor festivals is largely due to the fact that they tend to be free and to include a range of activities wide enough to interest a broad spectrum of people. Waltham Forest found that 45 per cent of local residents would like to see more festivals or large public events in their area and most agreed that local festivals bring people of different backgrounds together; among residents from Asian and Black communities this sentiment was especially strong.

**Recommendations: outdoor events matter**

- We recommend that London Events Forum draft an advocacy document that highlights all the benefits of outdoor events, with evidence and that an advocacy group is established to ensure that these benefits are widely promoted.

**Outdoor arts events and activity**

The research identified over 450 named annual outdoor arts events and activities that take place in spaces owned by local authorities throughout London. These annual events are either entirely arts-centred or are community festivals and events with a strong arts content. In reality 450 events is an underestimate. Many festivals, such as the City of London Arts Festival or the Ealing Jazz Festival were counted as one, but they incorporate several outdoor arts events over a period of time. Furthermore, a great many outdoor arts performances are one-off events, which are site-and time-specific and so do not take place on a regular basis. Add to this the numerous events staged in spaces not owned by the local authorities (such as in the Royal Parks, museum grounds and on private or commercially owned land) and the London event map is a dazzling and diverse mass of accessible cultural experiences for London’s residents, workers, students and visitors.

Almost all (28) boroughs reported having outdoor event programmes and six of these could also easily pick out a recognised programme of outdoor arts events and activities. that they market and promote as an entity. The size and scope of these events programmes varies tremendously:

- ten boroughs reported having fewer than 10 outdoor arts events (all but one are outer London boroughs)
- 13 boroughs reported up to 20 events
- five boroughs reported having more than 20 outdoor arts events (all are inner London boroughs)

All the boroughs with more than 20 events in their programmes include council-led events, events delivered in partnership with community organisations and independent community events.

It is impossible to come to any firm conclusions as to why the outdoor arts events provision differs so widely across London, as the number of factors involved is so great; no two boroughs feature the same factors, and merely citing the number of events does not reflect their quality, size and range.

Case study

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has identified 18 outdoor arts events and so falls in the middle range (see above). Five are large events attracting audiences of between 10-80,000. Two are commercial and charge an entry fee. What does not show up on the Tower Hamlets list is the proportion of the 45 arts events that the borough funds and that take place outdoors, or the proportion of the 100 independent events held in the borough’s parks that are arts-based.

Some of the factors that affect how extensive and broad a borough’s outdoor arts events programme are:

- how strong a tradition there is of delivering events
- importance given to events through an understanding of their benefits
- suitability of available parks and open spaces
- resources available (staff, budget)
- demographic make-up and the density of boroughs
- varying levels of cultural engagement among those who live, work or learn in the borough
- political and managerial structures of the local authorities
- internal communications between the directorates/departments of a council
- experience, views, skills, confidence and influence of officers
- borough location

Case study

Southwark is well-placed to have a good picture of its outdoor arts events because the officers working in the arts, events, location (rather than just parks) bookings, licensing and traffic management have close working relations and know what is happening across the whole borough. The locations officer has a particularly useful role in providing an overview as he/she takes bookings for all outdoor events, regardless of whether they are to be held in the parks and open spaces, in the town centres or on the streets. Through the safety advisory group the locations officer also has close contact with licensing and gathers information on forthcoming outdoor arts events on non-council owned spaces.

Recommendations: outdoor arts events and activity

- Boroughs need a full, clear picture of all outdoor events due to take place in their areas, regardless of who is organising them and where they are held. Officers from all directorates and departments need to share information to make this possible.
- The dazzling and diverse ‘map’ of outdoor arts events across London needs to be accessible as a whole, both to Londoners and to visitors, as is proposed as part of ‘The Culture Diary’ recently launched by the Mayor of London.
- We recommend that the advocacy group explores ways of encouraging and supporting outdoor arts events in boroughs that currently have no outdoor arts events programme. Strategies, monitoring and aspirations

Events strategies

Strategies specific to outdoor events are vital to the development of well-devised and well-managed outdoor events programmes. In all but four of the London boroughs, strategies for outdoor events are ‘buried’ within larger documents and often spread throughout a number of wider strategies. While this is understandable given the far-reaching benefits of outdoor events and the multiple agendas that they meet, it invariably means that local authorities have minimal understanding of the consolidated value of outdoor events.

Similarly, the lack of specific strategies for events means that it is difficult for events, arts and parks staff to have a clear direction and to develop their events programmes in a way that focuses on the quality and range of events and meets the particular needs of the borough; outdoor events are delivered or facilitated on an ad hoc basis.

In addition to the four boroughs who have specific strategies for events, at the time of research a further seven boroughs said that they were aware of the advantages of having a strategy specific to outdoor events that also incorporated relevant aspects of wider strategies, such as those for community cohesion and healthy living. Some of these boroughs had already begun to pull together specific strategies for events, which may now be in place.

Recommendations: events strategies

- All London boroughs should have a specific policy for outdoor events, however basic, that is relevant to their borough and that ties in with the main targets of the borough’s wider strategies. This policy needs to be familiar to all staff working on outdoor events, regardless of their role.

Monitoring, evaluation and quality control

Concepts about monitoring as well as methods of monitoring and evaluation differ greatly and this has a strong impact upon the evidence available to validate the claimed benefits of outdoor events.

By monitoring we mean gathering information at an event (from audiences, participants, professional observers and others, such as local residents) and we define evaluation as then collating and assessing that information to gauge the success of an event and the impact it has made. Monitoring and evaluation can jointly be used to inform the development of either an individual event or, when matched against monitoring and evaluation from other events, an events programme. The process can also be used to assess the impact of events on wider local priorities, such as community cohesion and positive activities for young people.

Both are therefore essential to the development and growth of outdoor arts events.

Currently the content of event-monitoring surveys across London is completely individual to each event and/or borough. Eight boroughs monitor their events only with a headcount (usually to ensure that licensing restrictions on attendance are adhered to) or to check that the event is well managed, that there is no damage to the parks and that the conditions of hire have not been breached.

Case study

Greenwich council acknowledges that people who live in or visit the borough want information on all local outdoor events that are accessible to them. The borough’s What’s on guide therefore provides information not only on council-led events but on all local outdoor events, including those organised by the community and those held on property that does not belong to the local authority, such as at the National Maritime Museum and in Greenwich Park (which is one of the Royal parks). This benefits not only the residents and visitors but the profile of the borough as a rich and vibrant place to live or visit. Six boroughs showed that they have formal monitoring processes for the events they manage or fund – mostly through audience surveys and feedback forms from participants and performers – and four boroughs include in their grant schemes for arts events a monitoring process that the arts or community organisations are required to follow in order to receive their funding.

The lack of formal monitoring in most boroughs directly affects the evidence that they can show of the benefits of outdoor events. The consequent lack of evidence influences the amount of resources that events in those boroughs can attract or are allocated.

After events have taken place 10 boroughs have debriefs, although some of these are through the (variously named) event safety advisory groups and are mainly about health and safety or the lack of it, rather than about the quality of an event or audience responses.

Seven boroughs carry out annual reviews of their events programme to evaluate the events that have taken place and to help make decisions on the next year’s programme. These boroughs collate the information gathered through monitoring and are therefore able to make informed decisions about the programme for the following year and identify any gaps in their provision.

Recommendations: monitoring, evaluation and quality control

- Monitoring and evaluation is a key area that needs to be explored and where best practice needs to be established, taking into account:

  - Audiences London’s report on monitoring and evaluation at outdoor arts events
  - London Development Agency’s recent work on an event impact assessment toolkit
  - London Capital Improvement Programme’s Measuring social outcomes toolkit and training to help evaluate and plan events to meet wider social outcomes and local priorities as set out in the local area agreements
  - the benefits of economic impact multiplier models

- Best practice established for monitoring and evaluation of outdoor events needs to be shared with organisers of community events, who need to know that this is not just an onerous task that they have to complete for funders, but a vital tool for their development and sustainability.

- It would be useful for the boroughs who do not have evidence from monitoring and evaluation to have access to monitoring and evaluation reports produced in boroughs similar to theirs in size, location and demographic so that they have evidence for decisionmakers on the positive impacts of events and their link in to the national indicators.

**Good practice**

Through monitoring, Camden has created a cultural map of the borough and is aware of the places where there is little engagement with the arts. This map has been overlaid onto a map of the borough’s mental health and it was noticeable that where there was minimal engagement with the arts mental ill-health was more prevalent. The programme of events being developed will reflect these findings.

**Aspirations**

We asked interviewees about improvements to the existing events programme that they would like to see and what might make these possible. Almost all boroughs said they would like to be able to deliver and facilitate an increased and improved outdoor arts events programme. The aspirations mentioned in interviews were mirrored in the anonymous staff feedback forms.

In order to expand – in quantity and quality – people acknowledged the need for factors such as:

- increased staffing to deliver events and support community event organisers
- increased funding for in-house events and for grants to community event organisers
- training for community event organisers in all aspects of event-management
- a comprehensive and regularly updated event management toolkit available to event organisers
- an event policy to guide the development of events so that a borough’s programme of events is strategic rather than merely reactive

In our interviews we met more than 80 local authority officers whose work relates to outdoor events. There is a very considerable impetus to deliver more and better events but everyone we met was already managing heavy workloads and many were expecting cuts rather than increases in their staff resources and funding, despite the fact that the London Olympics is only two years away. This, combined with the rising costs for events (there is widespread concern over the slowly increasing tendency of the police to charge for their support at events) means that many boroughs will struggle to maintain their current provision.

**Recommendations: aspirations**

- We recommend that London Events Forum explores training programmes for community event organisers, working with partner organisations where appropriate.
- The London Events Forum should continue with the development of an online toolkit, accessible to both council event organisers and community event organisers, with clear, up-to-date guidance on all the necessary steps for organising an outdoor event.
- Best practice needs to be shared with the organisers of community events and we recommend that boroughs – either individually or jointly – explore training programmes for community event organisers.

**Funding for outdoor events and activity**

**Income-generation targets and charges**

The income generated from borough’s parks and the way income is used varies enormously. The amount of money generated by a borough’s parks largely depends on how attractive a borough’s parks are (in size, location and facilities) to the promoters of commercial events. Also, because of residents and parks access issues, several boroughs actively discourage rather than encourage commercial events. Three boroughs reported that income generated from park hires and events is earmarked for spending on events and/or park improvements that may improve the facilities for events. A third of all boroughs have set hire fees for their parks, which include different rates for commercial events, funfairs and circuses, charity events and community events. Two boroughs do not charge for community events or charity events that are free to attenders and three boroughs never charge for park hires for community or charity events. The remaining boroughs have hire fees that are set on according to the event; often the amount charged relates to whether an event meets one or more of the borough’s strategic targets.

The charges for park hires therefore vary as widely as the income-generation targets, as do other charges for services, such as the implementation of traffic management orders, which ranged from nil to £1,500, depending mostly on the size of a closure and whether the borough concerned pays a contractor to supply and erect the necessary road signage and barriers.

**Case study**

In Lewisham and Tower Hamlets for the Big Lunch there were a large number of events across the boroughs requiring traffic management orders but with each being quite small closures. The traffic management officers therefore grouped together a number of street parties under one traffic management order, so decreasing costs and paperwork.

**Recommendations: income-generation targets and charges**

- Boroughs should try to reduce costs for the organisers of free community events, so that the bulk of any funds raised for the event can be spent on enhancing the quality of an event’s content. A good practice guide for boroughs on fee waivers and cost reductions would be helpful.

**Funding for outdoor events and activity**

Half of the boroughs have their own council-led events of varying scales (from large events, such as Paradise Gardens, Dagenham Town Show, Lewisham People’s Day, Under One Sky and Lambeth Country Show – to name but a few – to smaller events such as Christmas lights switch-ons.

Funding for such events often comes from several budgets, with different directorates or departments paying for different events or different parts of a large event that allow them to meet strategic targets – such as the input of the youth service into Lewisham People’s Day, for example.

At the time of researching for this report, most boroughs did not have confirmation of their 2010/11 budgets. Many were expecting cutbacks with pressure to maintain event programmes either with less funds or through increased partnerships and sponsorship. Fourteen boroughs currently fundraise for their in-house council events, seeking sponsorship or funding partners, although only seven have officers with fundraising or sponsorship as part of their official job description.

Thirteen boroughs have grants available for events led by arts or community organisations, although these are mostly non-arts and non-event specific pots of money, such as community council grants or neighbourhood specific grants. The amounts are mainly small and not commensurate with the increased costs of meeting the demands of legislation and health and safety in staging outdoor events.

Four London boroughs have commissioning budgets that enable them specifically to encourage outdoor arts events. Eight boroughs identified that they can financially assist arts organisations to participate in their large in-house council events from those event-specific budgets.

Boroughs can also fund outdoor events through service level agreements with arts organisations that specify outdoor arts as part of the contract, through partnership working with community-led events and, in Southwark, through core funding a staff member for a non-council event, for example, the Thames Festival.

Several boroughs told us they are keen for communities to take on the organisation of events in their local area and there are a number of large events, such as Queens Day Festival in Brent, where this works successfully. Conversely, there were several events that were once organised by local communities but which have been brought in-house by the local authority because the events were very successful and outgrew the capacity of the volunteers who organised them.

Case study

Brent has grants available to community or arts groups wishing to have a float in the Diwali event, so encouraging small arts or community groups to engage with a large event and also enhancing the reach of the festival. For example, 45 per cent of audience attends because it is a colourful, exciting spectacle rather than because it holds a religious significance for them.

Two-thirds of the boroughs’ arts or events officers offer advice to community groups that need to fundraise for their events, although this is mostly in the form of factsheets or guidance on websites pointing groups in the direction, for example, of Voluntary Arts Network (VAN). VAN has excellent fact-sheets and weekly email newsletters with information on funding opportunities.

Southwark was the only borough that mentioned having offered training to community organisations in fundraising for outdoor events, but there may be other parts of councils, such as community engagement teams, who offer general support and training in fundraising.

Recommendations: funding for outdoor events and activity

- Fundraising and sponsorship need to be acknowledged as specific skills and both council staff and community event organisers need to be trained for this. Best practice in this area may be informed by current research into fundraising by the London Capital Improvements Programme.

- As a starting point for the above, the toolkit for event organisers being developed by London Events Forum could have a general guidance section on fundraising with a section on sponsorship and partnerships.

- Council directorates within the London boroughs need to pool or direct their resources to support outdoor arts events that meet wider agendas (for example, funding outdoor dance events as part of a health strategy).

- Each borough’s events policy should acknowledge the difference between income-generating events, such as major events and commercial events, and small events with benefits to the community, as this will affect both income-generation targets set for park hires and the costs set for community event organisers.

- London Events Forum and the boroughs should investigate the opportunities for efficiencies through shared procurement. Support for outdoor arts events and activity

Event-related training

Anyone organising events, whether they are council employees or based in community, arts or voluntary organisations, has a right to know and understand their responsibilities and it is critical that they are trained to deliver well-managed, safe events.

Outdoor events with an arts content are frequently organised or facilitated by staff who readily told us that they had no arts or events background, and where this is the case, they need support from arts staff to enhance the quality of their events, and training to ensure the events they organise meet legislative standards.

Recommendations: event-related training

- All boroughs need to ensure that officers whose work relates to outdoor events fully understand the processes for organising events and have the skills and resources to manage those processes.

- Community event organisers – subject to the same legislation as local authority event organisers – need to fully understand the process of event management and have the appropriate skills and resources.

- We recommend a series of meetings – either London-wide or staged in borough groups – bringing events organisers together and focusing on themes such as health and safety, fundraising, marketing, etc. Such meetings would bring large numbers of participants together and would facilitate good networking and opportunities for sharing information.

- London Events Forum should explore organisations which may be able to deliver event-related training, and options to link events-related training into existing programmes, for example, local volunteering programmes.

Processes for outdoor arts events and activity

The process for organising an event varies greatly across London, as demonstrated by the sample borough process maps included in the appendices and the borough profile reports. This process is essential in enabling and helping community event organisers to deliver well-managed, safe events.

Information for event organisers before they apply

Although most boroughs have some form of web-based information or guidelines on procedures for anyone wanting to organise an outdoor event, the content of that information varies enormously, from full event toolkits, through application guidelines only, to nothing at all. A few boroughs have information in paper format only.

Information on websites can sometimes be very difficult to find. Searching, for example, with words such as ‘park hire’ bringing up endless information on parking bays and permits, but nothing on parks or how to hire them for an event. Information is seldom dated so those accessing it cannot know how up-to-date it is.

Of more concern is the variance in guidelines. A small example: one borough’s guidelines advises having on a stage an H2O extinguisher, a CO2 extinguisher and a fire blanket, another only suggests a CO2 extinguisher. Some boroughs require a specific fire-risk assessment of an event – others do not. Such variations may be small but strongly illustrate the need for standardised guidelines, particularly on health and safety.

One officer pointed out that as council staff they were reluctant to overwhelm event organisers with information, guidelines, health and safety advice, and so on. He said the ideal is to provide event organisers with the information they need appropriate to their particular event. For instance, someone organising a small theatre performance in a park does not need information about closing off roads; if there is not going to be alcohol or entertainment at the event, organisers do not need to sift through pages of licensing information.

**Good practice**

Camden has developed an online system that reacts automatically to the event checklist that applicants complete and submit with their applications to hold an event. The application cannot be submitted unless the checklist has been completed. The checklist lists all the possible elements of an outdoor event and all the safety issues. Applicants merely have to tick ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘not sure’ boxes.

The system identifies, for example, whether an applicant requires a road closure and if so automatically sends the applicant guidelines on road closures, an application form and the contact details of the relevant officer. If the applicant is unsure about the need for a road closure, the system sends guidance and advice to help make that decision and also puts them in direct contact with an officer who can offer support. Simultaneously, the system notifies the relevant officer either that an application is to be expected, who from and for what or to tell them that the applicant is in need of support.

**First points of contact**

In 12 boroughs there is a single officer or team acting as a lead point of contact on events queries and planning, and one further borough is about to designate a first point of contact. In 19 boroughs there is no single designated first point of contact for event organisers.

Where there is no identified first point of contact, enquiries may be passed to arts, parks, events, town centre management, or other officers. Where boroughs have events officers, this usually links directly into the booking of parks and open spaces, so it would usually be to them that initial enquiries come, unless organisations have already been in touch, for example, via the arts officer for funding applications to stage the event or activity. The open spaces that tend to fall outside of this would be the town centres (which rarely seem to link into the processes established for events in parks), a borough’s streets, or parks and spaces within a borough that are not owned by a borough (for example, Hampstead Heath in Camden is owned by the City of London).

**Requirements from organisations on first contact**

Requirements vary from a full application with up to 20 supplementary documents to a pre-application written proposal outlining the event. Typically, however, applicants are required to first complete an application form and the supplementary documents are required once it has been confirmed that the space required is available and that in principle the event can go ahead. Many of these applications contain a list of the documents that will be required and applicants have to say when they will be able to supply them.

**Timelines advised or required for non-council event organisers**

From first application to completion of event boroughs require anything from 1–12 months. for a small event and from 3–18 months for a large event. For a temporary event notice, the time required ranges from 10 days (where boroughs follow the statutory time limit) to three months.

The amount of time advised for a premises licence ranges from 3–12 months; for a traffic management order from 28 days to 12 weeks.

Standardising these timelines may not be possible for the event toolkit as the reasons why long times are needed often stems from not having enough staff to process applications, licences and traffic management orders and the number of events taking place.

(NB: Licensing forms and access to licensing information is shortly to come under the EU Services Directive; the Department for Business Innovation, and Skills (BIS) is piloting training for this project.)

Once an application is received

In 13 boroughs a system is in place for circulating an event application to relevant officers, getting their comments on the event and taking the application through a set process. Twelve boroughs said that they routinely consult with local ward councillors and either parks’ ‘friends’ or residents’ groups and 22 boroughs mentioned a safety advisory group.

It is not necessarily the complexity of the process that influences a borough’s programme of events, it is more whether there actually exists a set process that is clearly stated to applicants, is known to all officers who are part of that process, and is followed. Communication between officers, once an application is received, is also a key influence on how clear and manageable a process there is.

Further support available in the lead-up to an event and post-event

In 13 boroughs there are officers who can assist event organisers in developing their event and in producing all the necessary paperwork. The eight boroughs unable to offer this support stated that this was due to poor staff resources.

It is noticeable that where there are officers in place who can support community event organisers through the process there tends to be a good range of outdoor community events.

Partners in the London Events Forum are developing a user-friendly, web-based toolkit and application process that is customer-focused and uses simple language clearly setting out the whole process and timeframe for organising events, of varying sizes, in a public space.

Recommendations: processes for outdoor arts events and activity

- We recommend boroughs look at ways of streamlining processes for organising events and the methods of granting permissions (for example for street parties) to ensure the process is as easy and cheap as possible. All council officers whose work relates to outdoor events need to fully understand the process.

- All boroughs should establish a safety advisory group if there is not already one in place

- We recommend that London boroughs continue to explore ways of working together and that there are increased networking and information sharing opportunities for staff whose work relates to events, regardless of their roles

- Local authority officers should work with organisers of community events to help them develop and improve the quality of events both in management and in content

- All boroughs should have a designated first point of contact for those wishing to organise festivals and events

- Where boroughs do not have designated events officers, we recommend that they create a network of all council staff who work on events who can work together to devise and deliver an overall outdoor events programme. Communications, marketing and partnerships

Marketing events

Comprehensive and targeted marketing is essential to the success of all outdoor events, not only to bringing in audiences, but also to raise the profile of events and the councils and communities who organise them. Establishing a good reputation for an event is essential for prospects of establishing partnerships and sponsorship that can contribute to future events. Building a strong, positive reputation for an event encourages a sense of pride and raises the aspirations of those who participate in them.

Six boroughs’ officers responsible for either delivering or facilitating outdoor events mentioned having good working relations with their communications teams, and a further six have excellent communications support from their own designated arts and marketing officers.

Mostly, however, relations with corporate communications teams did not appear to provide the best possible marketing strategies for outdoor events. Some officers expressed frustration at not being able to access social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, because of council restrictions, although seven boroughs use these and find them a vital and successful means of marketing events.

Similar frustrations were sometimes expressed where corporate style guidelines – designed to portray the council as solid and sensible – are strictly enforced, thwarting events officers’ efforts to convey the message that an arts event or activity will be fun, creative, exciting and contemporary.

Marketing strategies for events were often felt to be insufficiently proactive – largely due to workload pressures in communications teams; yet arts and events officers are seldom permitted to promote events directly.

In short, many borough communications teams’ marketing strategies are not sufficiently targeted at promoting events, either in advance or in the follow-up to events.

Recommendations: marketing events

- To maximise the impact and profile of the boroughs’ events programmes, we recommend that boroughs work together to devise a best-practice document for marketing outdoor arts events through print, press, media and most vitally through the web and social networking. The advocacy group would need to open up a dialogue with heads of borough communications teams in order for the best practices to be adopted.

- We recommend that the boroughs and partner agencies (for example, Arts Council England, London, Visit London, the Greater London Authority) explore further opportunities for joined-up marketing of outdoor arts events.

- We recommend that borough websites give information on all forthcoming outdoor events taking place in their borough (council, commercial and community) and also have a year-round ‘get-involved’ page so that performers, traders, volunteers etc can know in advance how they can participate. Boroughs’ websites should provide links to the events pages on the websites of neighbouring boroughs.

Case study

The Greater London Authority has a licensing operational safety group that includes key agencies involved with events for which Greater London Authority is responsible, such as events in Trafalgar Square. The group includes representatives from Westminster council, the police, Transport for London, the emergency services and so forth. Each month event organisers outline their event plans at the group’s meetings, so issues can be discussed and solutions found. This systematic process ensures that all parties with a stake in the events or a role to play, are able to build effective relationships and contribute to a coordinated approach. Cross-borough communications and projects

London Events Forum is bringing together events organisers from across London in a new way and is creating increased opportunities for joint working and sharing of best practice. Cross-borough projects appear to be on the increase; in our survey 13 boroughs identified specific projects that they had worked on with other London boroughs and 17 boroughs mentioned belonging to cluster groups, such as Central London Arts Partnership, which are providing a way forward for collaborations and sharing information.

Recommendations: cross-borough communications and projects

- We recommend that boroughs continue to explore ways of working together – for example to make joint funding applications, to investigate how red tape for events that cross borough boundaries can be streamlined and to participate in the cross-borough mentoring scheme that London Events Forum is establishing.

- We recommend the setting up of networking events for all types of local authority staff who work on events. This could bring together licensing officers, communications officers, environmental health, town centre managers as well as arts and events staff.

Non-council events in borough marketing and communications

All community and non-council events are included in 13 boroughs’ ‘what’s on’ pages, provided the organisers send them in on time. In five boroughs officers ensure that all non-council events that are funded, supported, or have partnerships with the borough are put on the borough’s website. In three boroughs community events are included in printed programmes.

Good practice

Lewisham has a regular arts email bulletin that includes all arts activity that staff are aware of in the borough.

How up-to-date and comprehensive a borough’s ‘what’s on’ web pages are mostly depends on staff resources and the borough’s policy towards including events organised by community groups. Such pages are almost always for current events; they rarely mention events coming up in a couple of months or the following year. While the current information is useful for would-be attenders, for people who want to engage with an event (for example, perform, have a stall) the ‘what’s on’ information is too late.

Good practice

Camden’s website lists all the community festivals that took place in the borough in 2009 and includes details of how you might participate (by volunteering, for example), what type of activities or performance they have, and so on. Recommendations: non-council events in borough marketing and communications

- All borough websites should include community or non-council organised outdoor arts events so that the focus is on comprehensive information to residents about what is happening in their borough rather than solely on events being organised by the council.

- Boroughs should consider the value to residents of including on their website events, or at least links to neighbouring boroughs’ what’s on pages, so that residents, particularly those who live near borough boundaries, can have maximum information about events nearby.

- We recommend boroughs to find ways to keep information on annual events (council and community) with contact details on their websites (or if they have them their social networking sites) year-round, so that performers, traders, volunteers etc can know in advance how to participate.

Good practice Lambeth currently includes on its website a few events happening in Southwark.

Staffing

Staffing for events varies hugely. In 40 per cent of the boroughs that we interviewed staffing was either in flux or expected to be reviewed in early 2010. The borough profile reports give details; no two boroughs have the same staffing structure.

Two boroughs have no events staff and no arts officers responsible for outdoor events. In these boroughs park hires are managed by parks or green spaces, either one central officer or by area parks rangers.

Five boroughs have no specific outdoor events staff but instead a disparate group of officers who, as a small part of their work, occasionally produce or facilitate events. The officers include staff working in the arts, community engagement, town-centre management, communications, tourism, parks, housing, children and young people’s services, equalities, health and well-being, venue management, environmental services.

Mostly these staff and their managers have little or no specific event-management training, and they have minimal contact with other people in the council who organise events. A few have a support ‘technical officer’ or someone in the council who gives support on health and safety.

Four boroughs have one or two events/park hire staff, managing, producing and facilitating varying numbers of council and community festivals and events (some may be a mix of indoor and outdoor events). Some work very closely with arts-based colleagues; some do not know who the arts officers in their borough are.

Three boroughs have arts staff (usually arts development officers) who organise events as a key part of their work, for example, Enfield and Croydon.

Three boroughs have contracted out the management of all parks bookings and community events in their parks and open spaces. These are Hounslow, Ealing and Lewisham. Lewisham does however have designated events and arts staff, who may book a park with the contractor and work with them. Fourteen boroughs have dedicated festivals or events teams, who either include arts officers and parks booking staff, or work very closely with them.

The boroughs with events teams or specific events staff have not only the most outdoor arts events, but are also the boroughs which encourage and support community events organisers.

Recommendations: staffing

- Training and mentoring for staff who organise or facilitate events should be a priority, including for staff in boroughs without any designated event staff and where assisting community organisations to run events in parks is a small part of an officer’s work. The map of outdoor arts events and activity across London is dazzling and diverse. The commitment and enthusiasm of local authority staff to delivering an increased and improved programme of accessible, high-quality, outdoor events in the lead-up to 2012 and the Cultural Olympiad is similarly impressive.

The map is extremely ‘patchy’, however. Residents, workers and students and communities in some boroughs are definitely missing out, not only in having enjoyable, safe, exciting, inspirational, well-managed, outdoor events but also, most importantly, in access to the spin-off benefits of these events.

The recommendations in this report aim to extend good practice and promote minimum standards in the ways in which outdoor arts events are organised and facilitated. Through the joint, determined efforts of London Events Forum, Arts Council England, Visit London, the Greater London Authority, London councils, the London boroughs themselves and other key partners, we are confident that these recommendations will be rigorously pursued.

Determined efforts alone, however, will not ensure the success of the Cultural Olympiad or its desired legacy. Investment in resources and skills is an imperative although the likelihood of this in the current economic climate is slim unless there is a widespread and thorough understanding among decisionmakers of the importance of outdoor events and the benefits they bring in increased opportunities for engagement in the arts, positive activities for young people, volunteering and improved community cohesion, health, education, well-being and positive economic impacts.

To achieve the desired increase and improvement in the provision of outdoor arts events and activity, the report’s most vital recommendation is for setting up an advocacy group that will champion outdoor arts events as major contributors to the wider National Indicators as part of local authorities’ local area agreements. Appendices

Outdoor arts events and outdoor events that include the arts: a list of the events in the London boroughs and in the City of London identified through the research

**BARKING & DAGENHAM**

- Twilight Classical Concert & Fireworks Finale Barking Abbey Ruins
- Dagenham Town Show Central Park, Dagenham
- African Showcase Barking Town Centre
- Spooktacular Eastbrook End Country Park
- Fireworks Barking Park
- Spirit of Christmas Barking Town Centre
- Big Green Borough Day
- Dance festival
- Molten Arts Festival
- Black History Month
- St George’s Day
- International Women’s Day
- The Big Draw

**BARNET**

- Legacy of Hope Holocaust Memorial Day
- East Finchley Festival Cherry Tree Wood
- Potters Bar Carnival
- Finchley Carnival
- Friern Barnet Summer Show Friern Park
- Victorian Day
- Hampstead & Highgate Literary Festival
- Little Wood Park Show

**BEXLEY**

- The Danson Festival Danson Park
- Town centre celebrations
- Cultural Olympiad programme
- Summer Sizzler Youth Football various locations
- Epiphany celebrations Danson Park
- Easter Egg Hunt various locations
- Waterside Gardens Fun Day
- Oval Traders Summer Fete The Oval
- Annual Bexley & Greenwich Procession Lesnes Abbey
- Slade Green Community Fun Day Whitehall Road
- Spark in the Park Danson Park
- Lark in the Park Sidcup Place
- Triforum Youth Event various locations
- Donkey Derby St Mary’s
- Oakleigh Fair Danson Park
- Christmas Experience Danson Park
- Welling Round Table Fireworks Danson Park
- Shining Light Twilight Walk Danson Park
- St Mary’s Community Fun Day Shoulder of Mutton Green

**BRENT**

- St Patrick’s Day Willesden Green Library Centre
- Gladstonbury Festival Gladstonbury Park
- Respect Festival Roundwood Park
- Queens Park Festival
- Countryside Day Fryent Park
- Navratri Festival various locations
- Wembley World Flavour various Wembley locations
- Peace March
- Diwali parade & fireworks Ealing Road & Barham Park
- Eid Brent Town Hall
- Diwali Neasden Temple
- Black History Month various locations
- Guy Fawkes fireworks Roundwood Park
- Kilburn Festival Kilburn Grange Park
- Festival Brazil

**CAMDEN**

- Camden Crawl various Camden Town locations
- May festivals and Green festival boroughwide
- Charlotte St Festival
- Hatton Garden Festival
- Equinox Festival Conway Hall & Camden Centre
- Fair in Square Pond Square
- Primrose in Pink Chalcot Square
- Bangladeshi Mela Regents Park
- Queen Square Fair
- Jester Festival Fortune Green Open Space
- Inkerman Area Residents Association Celebration
- Swiss Cottage Festival
- Friends of St Martin’s Gardens Festival
- Ingestre Road Summer Festival
- Camden New Town Community Festival
- Camden Community Festivals boroughwide
- Camden Fringe Festival Theatre various locations
- Castle Haven Community Festival
- BBC Electric Proms various locations
- Gayton Festival
- Perfect Day Swiss Cottage
- Lady Somerset Road Street Party

Erith Riverside Festival Riverside Gardens Zippo’s Circus Sidcup Place Forrest Fun Fair various locations Kielder Challenge Danson Park Gerry Cottle’s Circus Danson Park Bexley Heritage Trust Events Danson Park & Hall Place

2009 research and mapping for London Events Forum (LEF) Belsize Eco Week inc. Green Fair on Hampstead Hill Kings Cross Festival

CITY OF LONDON Moonwalk Hyde Park to Westminster Smithfield Nocturne Crisis Square Mile Run Spitalfields Festival Free Summer Events series City of London Festival Great River Race Thames Festival Lord Mayor’s Show throughout the borough

CROYDON Tudor Times Clocktower and Queens Gardens Croydon Summer Festival Lloyd Park Croydon Country Show Selsdon Wood Glow various locations Croydon Food Festival five themed markets Black History Month various locations Charity fireworks Sanderstead Rec Big Lunch Street Event Can You Dig It

EALING Hanwell Carnival Eithorne Park Acton Carnival Acton Park Greenford Carnival Ravenor Park Comedy Festival Walpole Park Opera Festival Walpole Park Jazz Festival Walpole Park Blues Festival Walpole Park Global Festival Walpole Park London Mela Gunnersbury Park Southall Processions Southall Hindu Chariot Procession West Ealing Acton Green Days Acton Green Common Armed Forces Day Eating Green Ealing Beer Festival Walpole Park Pitshanger Party in the Park Pitshanger Lane Pitshanger Xmas Fayre Eating Broadway National Play Day Rectory Park

ENFIELD New River Festival The Enfield Autumn Show Halloween Lanterns Edmonton Green Shopping Centre Fireworks display Easter event Edmonton Green Shopping Centre Edmonton Green Summer Events Winter Festival Edmonton Green Shopping Centre Teddy Bears’ Picnic Sights and Sounds of Edmonton Ponder’s End Mela Various outdoor arts events Forty Hall

GLA Mazlenitsa Russian Festival Potters Fields Chinese New Year Trafalgar Square St Patrick’s Day and Parade Piccadilly, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square St George’s Day Globe and Trafalgar Square Vaisakhi Trafalgar Square Armed Forces Day Trafalgar Square

Canada Day Trafalgar Square Big Dance various venues Pride Trafalgar Square and surrounds Carnaval del Pueblo Burgess Park London Mela Gunnersbury Park Liberty Trafalgar Square Eid Trafalgar Square Diwali Trafalgar Square Black History Month City Hall New Year’s Eve London Eye

GREENWICH Celebrate Woolwich town centre Great Get Together Wins Common, Plumstead Funday Maryon Wilson Park Great Get Together Blackheath Rugby Club, Well Hall Plumstead Make Merry Plumstead Common Tudor Festival Old Royal Naval College Great Get Together Royal Arsenal Barracks Greenwich and Docklands International Festival Greenwich Town Centre (4 days) Greenwich and Docklands International Festival Woolwich Town Centre (1 day) Greenwich and Docklands International Festival Greenwich Peninsula (1 day) Great Get Together Charlton Park Horn Fayre Charlton House Asian Mela Plumstead Common Summer Fayre Well Hall Pleasaunce Trust Thamesmead Festival Great Get Together Birchmere Park Greenwich Film Festival Well Hall Pleasaunce and Maryon Park Sega Festival (Mauritian community event) Comedy Festival Old Royal Naval College grounds Black History Month Blackheath fireworks Eltham Lights Up Eltham Town Centre Eltham Christmas Community Event Greenwich Lights Up Greenwich Town Centre Charlton Christmas Cracker Charlton House Woolwich Winter Warmer Woolwich Town Centre Annual circus Blackheath

HACKNEY Stokefest Clissold Park East End Film Festival various locations Daymer Cultural Turkish Festival Clissold Park The World is Your Oyster Hackney Marsh Shoreditch Festival Shoreditch Park Hackney Cultural Olympiad Carnival Discover Young Spicefest Hackney Empire Black History Month various locations Rooted in the Earth: Joshua Sofaer Dancing in the Square Gillett Square, Dalston Fete for the Wicked Hackney Wick CabinVet Hackney Road Recreation Ground Hackney One Carnival Hackney Downs Park 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch Now Music Festival Shoreditch Park May Festival Well Street Common Open Air Open Studios Clissold Park

2009 research and mapping for London Events Forum (LEF) StarLit Children's Literature Festival Hoxton Square

HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM Autumn Days various locations Fireworks display Ravenscourt Park Fireworks display Bishop's Park Spring Into various locations Japanese Garden Party Hammersmith Park Celebrate Fulham various locations Dance Umbrella Parsons Green Lyric Summer Party Lyric Square PlayDay Ravenscourt Park Open air theatre Fulham Palace Ravenscourt Park Fireworks display Bishop's Park Fireworks display

ISLINGTON Heatwave Love Parks Week parks across the borough Fireworks Regents Canal Fireworks Royal Northern Gardens Halloween in Holloway The Big Lunch Peter Bedford Housing Association Summer Fete The Feelgood Festival Make Time! Highbury Fields Jazz on the Green Newington Green Outdoor theatre performances Barnsbury Woods Gillespie Park Festival Holloway Arts Festival Suspense (International Puppetry Festival) Sadlers Wells Connect Festival

KENSINGTON & CHELSEA Moonwalk Hyde Park to Westminster Across the street, around the world In Transit Opera Holland Park Jubilee fireworks & displays Notting Hill Carnival Chelsea Festival Earls Court Festival Golbourne Festival Exhibition Road Cultural Group Music Day

KINGSTON Think in Kingston Aspire, Sakoba Youth Dance Festival Muybridge Festival Kingston Readers' Festival Festival of the Voice International Youth Arts Festival Kingston Summer Arts Season Kingston Carnival May Merrie The River Festival Christmas lights switch on Old London Road Easter Egg-stravaganza Thumbs Up It's Thursday Chinese New Year Paint the Town Green The Korean Festival

LAMBETH Fireworks displays Lambeth Country Show Colourscape Music Festival Stockwell Festival Thames Festival Streatham Arts Festival Bandstand Ruskin Park Bandstand Clapham Common Bandstand Myatt Fields Park

2009 research and mapping for London Events Forum (LEF) Day of Madeira Clapham Common Toast Clapham Common Brixton Splash

LEWISHAM Phoenix Launch Forster Park Ladywell Fun Day Ladywell Fields Celebration Day Telegraph Hill Bike and Kite Festival Blackheath Birthday party Manor House Gardens Hillyfields Annual Fayre Hillyfields Under 5’s Fun Day Mountsfield Park Blythe Hill Fun Day Blythe Hill Fields MHG Fun Day Manor House Gardens Picnic Manor House Gardens Hillaballoo Telegraph Hill People’s Day Mountsfield Park Birthday party Hillyfields Art in the Park Telegraph Hill User Group Fun Day Manor House Gardens Country Fair Cornmill Gardens London Bubble Theatre Sydenham Wells Park London Bubble Theatre Cornmill Gardens Adizone Evelyn Green Adizone Broadway Fields Halloween party Manor House Gardens Blackheath Fireworks Blackheath Tree dressing event Mayow Park

MERTON Mitcham Carnival Philippino Festival Morden Cannizaro Festival Wimbledon Lions Summer Show Morden Merton Horticultural Show Morden Hindu Festival Mitcham Wimbledon Festival of Culture & Sport Peace Week various locations Firework nights Morden & Wimbledon Winter Wonderland Parade Wimbledon The Big Draw Black History Month LGBT History Month Teenagers Music Festival South Park Gardens Easter Egg Hunt John Innes Park

NEWHAM The Mayor’s Newham Show East Ham Central Park Under the Stars East Ham Central Park Sunday Fun Day Stratford Park/Stratford town centre Newham London Run Stratford Park/Stratford town centre Fireworks display Wanstead Flats Newham Carnival East Ham town centre

REDBRIDGE Green Fair Taste of Asia Unity Festival Redbridge Carnival Wanstead Festival Offset Festival Arts in the Park summer season

Public art programme Book and Media Festival Dance Festival Inspiration Festival Eid in the Park Al Noor Festival Area 5 Festival Childrens art programme Teddy Bears Picnic Barnados Fireworks Music in Wanstead Park Party in the Park Luo Cultural Event Redbridge Community Fair City Gates Funday Sunkissed Weekend Midsummer Music Festival

RICHMOND Holi Festival of Colours Orleans House Gallery & Gardens Springtime Safari Orleans House Gallery & Gardens Richmond May Fair Richmond Green Hampton Hill Carnival Hampton Hill Ham Annual Village Fair Ham Common Twickenham Carnival Orleans House Gallery & Gardens Twickenham Green Fete and Family Day Twickenham Green Richmond Amateur Regatta Buccleuch Gardens Shakespeare Performance York House Gardens Community Fair Twickenham Green Community Fair Udney Park Gardens Barnes Fair Barnes Green Dance Richmond Strawberry Hill House Gardens and other venues Larks in the Parks (youth theatre) various locations In Town Without My Car Richmond Green/Barnes Green St Margaret’s Fair Moormead Recreation Ground Traylens Fun Fair Old Deer Park Zippos Circus Twickenham Green Moscow State Circus Old Deer Park Kew Fete Kew Green HANDS Charity Fair Twickenham Green Kew Horticultural Show Kew Pond On The Edge – festival of world music Bonds Victorian Fair Barn Elms/Kew Green/Heathfield Recreation/Ham Common

ROYAL PARKS Trooping the Colour, Queen’s Birthday Parade St James’ Park Hard Rock Calling Hyde Park Wireless Festival Hyde Park Taste of London Regent’s Park Panorama Hyde Park BBC Proms in the Parks Hyde Park Frieze Art Fair Regent’s Park Hyde Park Winter Wonderland Hyde Park Haughton Art Fair Kensington Gardens Arts Village Kensington Gardens John Nash Exhibition Regent's Park

SOUTHWARK Bandstand Concerts Southwark Park Barnardos Big Toddle Dulwich Park Bermondsey Carnival Southwark Park and surrounds Black History Month various locations Bonkersfest! Camberwell Green Brimmington Mid-Summer Festival Brimmington Park Camberwell Arts Festival various locations Carnaval del Pueblo Burgess Park Carters Steam Fair Belair Park Carve in the Community Peckham Square Celebrating Women Month throughout the borough Crusaid Walk for Life Dulwich Fair Dulwich Park Dulwich Festival Fair Goose Green Elefest various venues around Elephant & Castle Fireworks Night Southwark Park Goose Green School Summer Fair Goose Green I Love Peckham various locations John Donne School Carnival Peckham Square LGBT History Month throughout the borough London Bubble Southwark Park London Marathon Maslenitsa Potter's Fields Park Midsummer Celebration Southwark Park Norwegian National Day Southwark Park Nunhead Arts Week Nunhead Green and other locations Nunhead Business Association Summer Event Nunhead Green Pancake Day Race Hibernia Wharf Pavilion Café Christmas Market Dulwich Park Peckham Rye Fete Peckham Rye Common Rockingham Youth Festival Newington Gardens Rotherhithe Festival King George's Field Silver (Older Peoples' Festival) boroughwide, Tate Modern, Menier Gallery, Dulwich Park Southwark Irish Festival Peckham Rye Common Southwark Youth Carnival St George's Day various locations St Martin's Lantern March Sunray Gardens Thames Festival Bankside, Tate Modern, Potter's Fields Park The Mix Burgess Park The Screen on the Green Dulwich Park West Square Summer Fete West Square Gardens Zippo's Circus Peckham Rye Common

SUTTON Imagine Festival Sutton High Street Take Part, Take Pride boroughwide Hackbridge Carnival Hackbridge Environmental Fair Carshalton Marie Curie Daffodil Fun Event Sutton High Street Cheam Fair Cheam Park Belmont Festival Belmont Wandle Festival Wandle Valley St Helier Festival St Helier Open Space SFTRA Fun Open Days

Move at the Manor Manor Park, Sutton Christmas Light Switch On Sutton High Street Suburbia of Arts Festival Sutton High Street Stanley Park Schools TC Carnival Sutton High Street

TOWER HAMLETS Chinese New Year Museum in Docklands Baishakhi Mela Weavers Fields and Allen Gardens Reggae by the River Victoria Park Music festival Victoria Park Jazz music festival Victoria Park Greenwich + Docklands International Festival Wennington Green Paradise Gardens Victoria Park Lovebox Weekender Victoria Park Underage Festival Victoria Park Field Day Victoria Park Vyner Street Festival Vyner Street St Barnabas Fete Wennington Green Brick Lane Brick Lane Black History Month various locations Fireworks Victoria Park

WALTHAM FOREST The Waltham Forest Mela The Chingford Day Green Fayre Young Peoples Caribbean Carnival Walthamstow Festival Leytonstone Car Free Day Fireworks

WESTMINSTER New Year's Day Parade Russian Winter Festival Chinese New Year BAFTA Film Awards St Patrick's Day St George's Day RAC Supercar Parade Moonwalk Hyde Park to Westminster Westend Live Canada Day Marylebone Summer Fair Pride London Notting Hill Carnival Soho Pride Regent Street Festival Mid-Autumn Festival Battle of Britain Thames Festival Diwali Eid New Year's Eve

2009 research and mapping for London Events Forum (LEF) London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Outdoor arts events and activity

The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is in north east London and forms part of outer London. The borough has a population of 168,900. The 3,611 hectares within its boundaries includes over 25 urban parks, gardens and open spaces offering a variety of different landscape types.

The River Thames forms the southern edge of the borough. In many places there is a Thames Path following the river, although views are problematic due to the high flood defences and industrial premises on the waterfront. The borough has four parks with Green Flag Award status.

1 Staffing

There used to be five staff in the arts team. There is currently one events manager and one arts development manager and one assistant arts officer (part-time). The borough is recruiting for another full-time events officer and an apprentice events officer. A new group manager for arts and events is also due to start work very soon.

The events service was restructured a year ago; arts development and the events section are now the arts and events service.

This year and last year the borough employed a festival organiser on a temporary contract specifically to organise the Molten Arts; the main council events are organised by the events section.

2 Event programme/activity

There is a combination of directly delivered events, events organised in partnership, and events managed by external groups. Members strongly influence the programme but there are also strategic developments (see monitoring and evaluation). Many events are also historic but this is not to say they cannot be changed.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

Main council events (all free) organised by the events manager:

- Dagenham Town Show (60,000 people over two days)
- classical concert
- Spooktacular for Halloween
- Spirit of Christmas – a series of events both indoor and outdoor

The events manager also supports events organised by colleagues in the arts, such as:

- dance festival – one month of events, some outdoor, organised by the arts service
- Molten Arts Festival – organised by the temporary festival organiser and in partnership working with LIFT. This was commissioned through London Councils’ Gateway Boroughs funding
- a film festival organised by the arts service (indoors)
- Black History Month – the programme has some outdoor events and celebrates diversity through quality arts
- St George’s Day event was organised this year

The events officer and arts officer often also feed into working groups for events such as International Women’s Day or the Big Draw.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

Other council services organise outdoor events in consultation with the events section; these include: • Big Green Borough Day – organised by the environment team’s climate change officers • African Showcase – organised in partnership with the town centre manager

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There is a community carnival that links into the Dagenham Town Show. This is managed by a committee, supported by the events manager, who also liaises with the police on behalf of the carnival.

The council works in partnership with providers of two paid events: • the East London Mela • annual fireworks (with the Round Table)

The council has also on occasion worked with Quantum to deliver outdoor arts events and has commissioned Arc theatre to devise pieces for some of the borough’s parks.

There are a number of non-council events staged in the borough’s parks and green spaces. The council supports them via the events manager and the park officers; hire fees are waived for all partnership projects; events may be included in the borough’s events publicity. Often small events are incorporated into the borough’s larger events, and the larger events also put out calls for expressions of interest from arts organisations and community groups who may wish to stage outdoor events – for example, under the umbrella of Molten Arts Festival.

2.4 Commercial arts events

There have been commercial events such as a craft and country fair, along with other ad hoc events, such as a charity concert and youth concert. The location of the borough means they have few enquiries from commercial organisations.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

• Big Green Borough Day • Dagenham Town Show • Dagenham Carnival • Spooktacular for Halloween • Spirit of Christmas • African Showcase • classical concert

• Dance Festival • Molten Arts Festival • East London Mela • annual fireworks • St George’s Day • Black History Month events • The Big Draw • International Women’s Day

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

Events contribute to the parks and green spaces strategy and particularly fit with the aim to encourage use of parks. They also contribute to the borough’s cultural agenda; events are a good way to encourage and facilitate engagement with the arts and also to showcase diversity.

Events also contribute to the borough’s sustainability agenda. There are guidelines for event sustainability, aiming to make events ‘green’; these are followed when organising the council events, are included in the borough’s tendering documents and are made available to external event organisers.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

There were no problems that were not surmountable and there were numerous benefits.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages: • they have a number of large parks with good on-site parking facilities • the large parks have premises licences

Disadvantages: • location: Barking and Dagenham is perceived as being a long way from central London. Barking is in zone 4 and Dagenham is in zone 5 despite being on the District line of the London Underground. • the borough is usually easily accessible from central and other parts of London but underground line repair works at the weekend can effectively cut them off. The number of attenders from outside the borough has been considerably affected by this. 3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

The borough has event evaluation forms for council-led or partnership events, and in 2009 commissioned a vox-box evaluation, which is for internal use only and will be distributed around the council to demonstrate the value of events.

All events in the council programme are assessed for Disability Discrimination Act compliance.

Officers are in the process of establishing performance indicators for outdoor arts events and activities so that this can influence their development and planning processes and would be interested in finding out how other London boroughs do this. The main performance indicator reported against is National Indicator 11, which addresses engagement in arts and cultural activities.

Reports and figures/statistics are looked at annually and areas are identified for development. For example, the borough noticed that while dance is a popular artform, provision was not ‘joined up’ and this led directly to the creation of the dance festival. Now in its second year, the dance festival includes a dance procession and dance sessions in the town square as well as a few days in the parks and a number of events that showcase the work of local dance groups and schools.

Currently there is a good level of activity in theatre and the performing arts but are looking to develop visual arts and photography.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

Officers feel their events are of good quality and that they have a good, robust, inclusive and reasonably varied programme but they would love to have more! For this they need more resources in terms of funding and staffing.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

Council income from commercial park hires is minimal. There are no set income targets for events; there are targets, however, for income from funfairs.

4.2 Funding for council events

Budgets vary according to the programme.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There is no grants scheme for outdoor arts events and activities but the arts development officer does have a commissioning budget of £25,000 and the borough invites proposals from non-council arts organisations, whether professional or amateur.

Interested parties whose events get incorporated into the borough’s own larger events can also be funded through those specific events budgets.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

There is a sponsorship officer in the corporate communications team so, for example, sponsorship may be obtained for putting posters on lampposts, etc. Sponsorship adds value to the event programme rather than funding it. The arts service regularly brings in external funding for services, projects and events.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Members have a strong influence on which events the borough stages.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

There is information on the website but generally the event manager will advise applicants according to their event.

5.4 Equipment resources

For council events the events manager has cones and a small supply of barriers, which the parks grounds staff put out where required. 5.5 Maps and site plans

The event manager supplies event organisers with blank maps of the parks for site plans.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

There is information on the website but generally the event manager through liaising with the applicants will advise them according to their event.

6.2 First points of contact

The events manager is the one-stop shop for events organised by non-council organisations and individuals. Parks/arts staff pass enquiries to him/her.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

The information required from event organisers on first contact with the borough applicants will vary according to the event and the timing of that first contact.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Applications for events (to parks and licensing) can come in a little as two weeks before an event.

6.5 Once an application is received

The events manager discusses with applicants what they want to do, sends them the forms for a temporary event notice if needed, (these can also be downloaded from the council website). If the event is larger and more complex he/she will refer them to the licensing section. The events manager then supports non-council event organisers through the licence and park hire application process, liaising with other council departments and officers.

The event manager liaises closely with the police and traffic management and alerts them to any events that may require a traffic management order (TMO). The police require TMOs for some events to prevent parking (for example, for the Mela). They do not require a TMO for the carnival’s rolling road closures but they work very closely with the council on this.

Non-council or partner events such as the Mela employ a parking company to place cones and the council provides the parking enforcement wardens. The Mela pays for their staff costs.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

There are guidelines for making events ‘green’ and these are followed when organising the council events, included in the borough’s tendering documents and made available to external event organisers.

Other organisations may initially interface with the arts development manager (particularly if they are being commissioned to deliver an outdoor arts event) and he/she will either liaise with the event manager or pass them onto him/her.

The event manager supplies event organisers with blank maps of the parks for site plans, templates for the event management plan and with a selection of templates for risk-assessments so that organisers can choose which format they follow. The event manager supports organisations through this process where needed.

The event managers are not required to supply emergency plans as the event manager does this so that event emergency plans fit in with the wider borough document. Events organisers will however then be advised of the plans.

The events manager supplies the organisers with a list of required food safety information and a template for food traders to complete.

Permissions for erection of banners and bunting organisers are referred to highways where these are on the roadside. Permission for putting up posters and banners around the park are via the events manager who will write the permitted locations into the park hire contract.

The event manager advises organisers about Performing Rights Society (PRS) and other permissions such as Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and provides contacts. The responsibility to get these permissions rests with the organisers. 6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

The absolute minimum period for a temporary event notice is 10 days and for a premises licence two and a half months, to allow for the 28-days notice period.

Applicants are required to send their applications (hard copies) to all those who will assess the applications – fire service, police, child protection, licensing, building control, health and safety and emergency planning.

There is consultation and if there are objections then the application goes to the licensing board, which meets regularly and consists of councillors and advisory officers.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The health and safety advisory group meets monthly and is administered by the events manager. It consists of health and safety, licensing, environmental health, building control, trading standards, emergency planning and the events manager. Other advisory officers may be invited if there are agenda items that require their input (for example, traffic management, police, Transport for London).

How event organisers interface with this group depends on the size and complexity of the event. They will either:

- supply a written summary of their event and contact details
- supply a written briefing note
- meet the group to present and discuss their event

Health and safety in the borough is divided into ‘enforcement’ – via environmental health for all businesses and non-council events, and corporate advisory for all services across the council (and therefore covering the council-managed events. Both teams keep the health and safety advisory group informed of Health and Safety Executive updates.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

There is currently no designated officer in the corporate communications team for the arts and events. Corporate communications are responsible for the design of publicity, and for the marketing and press work in relation to arts and events, although money was spent this year directly from the festivals’ budget on advertisements on radio and on buses (effective but expensive) particularly for Dagenham Town Show (officers from neighbouring boroughs had seen these adverts on buses in their borough), which was a way of raising awareness of events for those residents living near to but not in the borough, alongside the distribution of leaflets and posters in Redbridge (via their arts officers).

Marketing and publicity can be difficult as arts and events are not a high priority for the corporate communications team compared to their other areas of work.

The borough’s website has details of events on a rolling basis. The festivals manager and arts officer are looking to have a comprehensive events calendar including as many as possible of the boroughs events, regardless of who organises or funds them. The difficulty in including non-council events is that these are often not known about until quite late. The Cultural Olympiad publicity includes the council’s key events.

Most council officers are barred from social networking sites but as a pilot project Facebook was used to market the Molten Arts Festival this year and a report is due on its impact.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The arts development manager works with Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Waltham Forest on two film partnerships (indoors). The events manager is a member of the London Events Forum (LEF) and of Local Authority Events Organisers Group (LAEOG) and for the latter is currently leading on benchmarking on how staff budgets relate to the number of events organised. The borough is also a Gateway borough.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The events manager works closely with community event organisers and they also organise some events in partnership. London Borough of Barnet Outdoor arts events and activity

Barnet is an outer London borough with a population of over 331,552 in 8,700 hectares. There are 206 local authority parks and green spaces (including seven nature reserves) and 20 town centres.

Seven parks managed by the council have Green Flag Award status and 16 parks are promoted as ‘premier parks’. Over a third of the London Borough of Barnet is made up of greenbelt land and Metropolitan Open Land.

The extension to Hampstead Heath, which is owned by City of London, is in Barnet and outdoor spaces at Middlesex University are also occasionally used for events.

1 Staffing

There is one events officer who acts as a conduit for all events that take place in the borough’s parks and open spaces and a culture and arts development officer. There is also a civic events officer.

2 Event programme/activity

Although Barnet does not organise any outdoor arts events specifically, all community events held in the parks and open spaces can feed into the events listed on the council’s website. Events are also listed on www.theseer.info.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

None.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The civic events officer arranges some events, such as Legacy of Hope, which is a Holocaust Memorial event and has an art element.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There are at least 25 days of events organised by community groups, as detailed below in 2.5

2.4 Commercial arts events

The only commercial hires are funfairs, but some friends groups have opposed these. Enquiries for private hires, including weddings etc, are directed to Avenue House, which has private grounds.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

East Barnet Community Group arranges performances for five consecutive Sundays in the summer in Oakhill Park, which has a natural amphitheatre ideal for events and performances.

Barnet Arts Council also arranges theatre performances in this space over a period of several weeks, leading up to a main event at the end of summer, which features a battle of the bands and has an audience of 5,000–10,000. Littlewood Park has a week-long show in the summer that features performances in a natural amphitheatre.

Cherry Tree Wood in East Finchley hosts an annual weekend festival that features local dance and arts groups and an old-fashioned funfair. This park also hosts a charity fundraiser for cerebral palsy in September. It is sponsored by a local estate agent and features a battle of the bands.

Friern Barnet Summer Show is held annually in Friary Park. It is a paid entry traditional style show and has minimal art content but is looking to develop new elements that will attract a wider audience. 3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

There is currently a service review in progress for parks. Currently there is no events strategy though events do feature in some of the individual parks management plans.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Events in parks encourage residents to take ownership of their local park and to use them more. Surveys in Barnet showed that 92 per cent residents use their local park. Many of the residents on council estates do not have gardens so parks are important to them.

Parking for the larger events in some parks can cause disruption.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Barnet has a large range of parks and open spaces. There are many active community groups who arrange their own events.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

There is no formal system of monitoring or evaluating the community events in the borough’s parks and open spaces.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The borough would like to have more events in the parks and to develop more friends groups. Staff numbers at present make it difficult to develop this, though there is a service review in progress at the moment. Staff are keen to ensure an even spread of events in the borough’s parks, ensuring that the less affluent areas have access to events.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

There were no income targets set for 2009. Councillors set the daily parks hire rates at £54 for charities, £137 for community groups and £537 for funfairs and circuses.

Deposits for ground damage may be required for events; £500 for small events and £1,000 for larger events and £10,000 for fairgrounds. A £100 deposit is required for those putting up banners and posters in and around a park. In order to reclaim the deposit the organiser must take down all publicity within a set period.

Licences where required are acquired from the licensing team.

4.2 Funding for council events

The civic events team has a budget for its events but there is no central council budget for festivals or outdoor arts activity.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Information not currently available.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The community festivals are responsible for their own fundraising.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

No specific advocates were identified.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

There is no event related training for event organisers.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

For the 16 parks identified as ‘premier’ parks there are individual fact sheets, which include a park map, details of facilities and planned improvements, transport information and park contacts. Some fact sheets need updating. Similar information is on the website.

There is also a general leaflet with a map of the borough’s parks. The leaflet gives details of facilities and contact numbers for transport information, park bookings, sports facilities, etc. Information on the 16 premier parks is also on the website.

The events officer sends event organisers information that includes:

- terms and conditions for use of the parks and open spaces
- an event guidance note – what event organisers will need to do in four stages: pre-planning, organising the event, final preparations and after the event and gives some useful contacts
- a checklist to go with the above guidance note
- safety instructions for outdoor events with contacts for the security industry authority, the fire service, the police and St John Ambulance
- a safety inspection checklist
- an event application form, which also directs applicants to the licensing team, the traffic management team and to planning for permissions to use banners, posters and flyers
- advice on parking and driving in the parks at events
- a notice to put up about driving restrictions and regulations
- an event risk-assessment guidance note
- a template for a risk-assessment and an example of a completed risk-assessment (which is very basic)
- a form for making an accident or incident report that event organisers can photocopy and use
- information on how to book standpipes for the local water authority
- a template for listing event participants and their insurance details

5.4 Equipment resources

The council does not have any equipment resources.

5.5 Maps and site plans

The Barnet website allows visual access to the borough’s Geographic Information System maps. Maps are also printed on leaflets for each of the borough’s 16 ‘premier’ parks. Maps for making site plans are available from the events officer.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

See 5.3.

6.2 First points of contact

All initial enquiries go to the events officer who sends out the application pack with all the information listed above in 5.3.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

The organisers need to submit a completed application form and attach a proposed site-plan, vehicle route plan, risk-assessment and evidence of public liability insurance.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Completed applications are requested eight weeks in advance of an event. Larger events may require a longer lead-in if a premises licence is needed. Traffic management orders need a minimum eight weeks’ notice.

6.5 Once an application is received

The events officer checks through and enters onto the Torex Leisure Management System which makes the bookings, makes double bookings impossible, raises booking forms and invoices and prints the necessary maps and guidance notes.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The events officer supports event organisers with guidance but redirects them to licensing, traffic and environmental health for advice on those issues.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

The events officer holds premises licences for five parks. None of these are alcohol licences. 7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There is minimal contact with the arts officer who works in the children and young persons directorate. There is no safety advisory group and contact with the licensing, traffic, and environmental health teams is as required.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The communications team promotes some events in its regular publication and may also support events with press work if it is a slow news week. The events officer has a calendar of events which is entered on the website.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The events officer has contact with parks event officers in neighbouring boroughs and, for example, worked with Enfield on the Iranian New Year celebrations.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The events officer has good communications with the organisations that hire the borough’s parks for events. London Borough of Bexley Outdoor arts events and activity

The London Borough of Bexley is on the eastern periphery of greater London. Ethnic minorities make up 8.5 per cent of its 223,300 population.

The borough has relatively large areas of open space, with 255 of its 6057 hectares said to be small gardens, river and woodland areas and large parks with many sporting and other facilities.

Several borough parks and open spaces hold Green Flag Awards.

1 Staffing

The arts team has two dedicated officers, one manager and one principal officer. These staff oversee the management and delivery of Bexley’s flagship cultural event, The Danson Festival. The team also delivers smaller arts events and activities throughout the year.

Parks and open spaces manage the open spaces bookings system, which encompasses the hire of all borough parks and open spaces for events. There is a dedicated officer in parks, who deals with the bookings, and parks personnel who support and guide event hirers.

The safer neighbourhoods teams in community services also organises a whole range of outdoor fun days and events for communities across the borough. This is a key part of the area coordinators’ function.

The sports team and the staff in outdoor recreation programmes most of the borough’s sports-related events and offers activities for families at the two borough ‘splash-parks’ – Danson and Belvedere. Both teams have events written into their work-plans.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council arts team

These include the Danson Festival, town centre celebrations, a Cultural Olympiad programme, a whole range of community-focused outdoor events, ranging from fun days and family learning events through to arts workshops and activities.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The library service delivers small indoor events and a regular programme of cultural activities including Bexley Manga Festival. Other events include Summer Sizzler and the neighbourhood service youth football.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

- Epiphany celebrations
- Flyball dog training
- boot camp circuit training
- donkey procession
- Easter egg hunt
- Kielder Challenge
- International Canoe Polo Tournament
- orienteering
- tag rugby
- Myra Garrett Run
- Perception Wavehopper
- Water Fun Day
- sponsored dog walk
- Waterside Gardens Fun Day
- Oval Traders Summer Fete
- annual Bexley and Greenwich procession
- St Mary’s Community Fun Day
- school sports days
- Slade Green Community Fun Day
- Spark in the Park
- Lark in the Park
- Triforum Youth Event
- donkey derby
- Twilight Walk • cross country run • London League Cyclo Cross

2.4 Commercial arts events

• Oakleigh Fair • circus • Christmas Experience • funfair • Welling Round Table fireworks • Bexley Heritage Trust events

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

• Beats ‘n’ Rhymes • Bexley – My City Too! • launches of major public art schemes for example, Erith, Crayford Waterside Gardens and Belvedere Public Art

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The London Borough of Bexley has adopted an open space strategy and supporting open space strategy technical paper. The cultural strategy for the borough was agreed in 2002 and made recommendations for five years, the completion date being 2007. An arts strategy document is available on the website 2008–2013.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The benefits, particularly of running Danson, generally outweigh the problems, as the outsourced events compensate for the lack of cultural infrastructure in the borough and provide opportunities to experience or participate.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages (Danson Festival): • community cohesion • celebration and showcase for local talent • a receiving event for national and international artistic and cultural products, putting Bexley on the map and providing exposure to cultural forms not usually seen in the borough • an opportunity to raise Bexley’s profile and offer a broad cultural experience which attracts new audiences.

Disadvantages: • risk to hold events • negative perception of Bexley as not being a cultural borough

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Danson Festival: by project streaming (BeXfactor), the artistic quality can be monitored.

The arts manager works in partnership with the London Borough of Richmond events management team, which delivers Danson Festival.

All systems in place are scrutinised. De-briefs and evaluations take place with the rest of the safety action group. All contractors take part in a debrief. Customer satisfaction surveys take place and there are informal interviews with the public to give a snapshot of the event.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The branding and profile of the Danson Festival has been successfully refreshed, including the development of a standalone website www.dansonfestival.co.uk and new logo. Further work is planned to improve the promotion of the arts service. The arts service is working to continuously improve the quality and calibre of the arts offer at the events, through securing external funding to support projects and partnerships.

Several large projects are complete and more are underway, informed by the borough arts strategy, the cultural strategy, Erith arts strategy, Crayford strategy and action plan. There are also references to the arts in the unitary development plan.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

The income-generation target figure is £30,000.

4.2 Funding for council events

Danson Festival receives a modest subsidy of £36,000, uplifted annually linked to the rate of inflation and the council also covers the management costs of the event. However, the remainder of the budget is raised through the sale of concessions, sponsorship, car park income and pitch sale. Other departments have to pay for the use of the parks.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Arts Council of Bexley has a small grants funding stream that can support the delivery of arts-based events and activities. Through partnership funding applications the arts service can also support the planning and delivery of arts-based events.

The council has a corporate small grants fund for community and voluntary sector groups, which can also be accessed to support the development of events.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Danson Festival has an annual sponsorship target and runs an active annual sponsorship campaign, including the production of sponsorship packs.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The parks and open spaces team and licensing staff do much to support and guide hirers and event organisers with the planning and implementation of their events.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

An event toolkit was published by the arts service in 2006 and guidance on organising events can be obtained from parks and open spaces or the arts service.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The open spaces booking guidance pack and application form is very informative and could act as a very efficient toolkit resource.

5.4 Equipment resources

There are none at present.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Maps and plans are required for each event planned. The council has access to a Geographic Information System.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

Event organisers can access the website for information.

All applicants to use the parks are sent an open space bookings form.

6.2 First points of contact

The first point of contact is Parks and Open Spaces, Room 123, Civic Offices, Broadway, Bexleyheath, DA6 7LB.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

A completed open space booking form is required.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Open space bookings need to be completed a month in advance of the event for small events, and three months in advance for large events. The following relevant documents also have to be supplied along with the open space booking: risk-assessment, fire risk-assessment, stewards briefing pack, Performing Rights Society (PRS) Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), public liability insurance, test certificates for fairground rides and inflatables, public liability insurance and risk-assessments from participants; food hygiene certificates, Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks, first aid certificates, and qualifications may be required.

6.5 Once an application is received

The open space booking is sent for consultation to council staff, emergency services etc. The consultation period takes approximately 10 working days. After consultation, terms and conditions are sent to the organiser, which include details gained from consultation and the cost of the event. The organisers are required to sign the terms and conditions stating that they will comply with the conditions. The organisers are also required to pay for the event before final permission can be given to go ahead. After signed terms and conditions are sent back and payment is received permission is given. The organisers are usually requested to hold a pre- and post-event meeting with a grounds maintenance officer to check ground conditions. There may be a fee levied if ground conditions are affected and work is required.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The open space booking pack provides guidelines and advice. Meetings can be arranged with the event organiser and advice is given on matters such as logistics, writing risk-assessments, steward briefing packs, emergency procedures, etc. Further meetings can be arranged if required.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Danson Park, Sidcup Place, Riverside Gardens, Lesnes Abbey, and St Mary’s have an existing premises licence for entertainment.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

The organisers market their own event. They can advertise the event on the council website free of charge.

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The event is sent via email to other council departments for consultation. The event organisers may be requested to contact the following council departments: licensing, traffic management, and grounds maintenance.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Danson Festival is extensively marketed and has a standalone website www.dansonfestival.co.uk. The festival is promoted using adverts on digital screens in the main Bexleyheath Shopping Centre, through a widespread poster campaign including the use of J C Decaux poster sites and through local print and broadcast media. The borough website can be used to promote events and there are designated banner sites at five locations across Bexley. Libraries, contact centres, community and children’s centres and schools are also used as distribution centres.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

- Neighbourhood youth service
- Summer Sizzler

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Bexleyheath Heritage Trust is funded by Bexley Council and delivers full events programmes at both Hall Place and Gardens and Danson House. The National Trust Red House also has smaller events running during the season.

Arts Council of Bexley is also funded by the borough and is the voluntary sector arts umbrella organisation. Its membership comprises 38 member organisations and 64 individual artists, including the Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre, the Edward Alderton Theatre, Erith Playhouse, Centrepieces Arts and Community Health Group (80 artist members), local clubs, schools and community groups. The Arts Council of Bexley provides event coordination, funding opportunities and information to members and engages its members with Bexley’s cultural events and activities. London Borough of Brent Outdoor arts events and activity

Brent is an outer London borough with a population of over 270,600 in 4320 hectares. Venues that can be used for outdoor arts events include 80 local authority parks and green spaces and town centres. Five parks managed by the council have Green Flag Award status.

There are also five outdoor spaces around Wembley Arena and Wembley Stadium that can be used for events.

1 Staffing

In the environment and culture directorate, under the head of libraries, arts and heritage, there is a festival manager, an arts and festivals support officer, an arts development officer, a cultural development manager and an assistant arts administrator. There is also an events manager in parks.

2 Event programme/activity

Brent has a diverse programme of over 10 core outdoor arts events delivered by the council events team, plus at least 10 large events delivered by external partners and community groups.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

The festivals team manages four large outdoor events, six smaller events and a selection of one-off events. Most of these events are managed in partnership with community-based organisations and advisory forums.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The parks service organises Bonfire Night and Countryside Day. The libraries team coordinate and manage Black History Month, but most of these events are indoors. Town centre managers organise outdoor events such as the Christmas lights switch-ons and for Kilburn High Road there is a town centre partnership with Camden.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There are four large outdoor arts events organised independently of the council:

- Gladstonbury
- Queens Park Day
- TriUnity

2.4 Commercial arts events

Details of outdoor commercial arts events in the borough are not known.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Brent Diwali
- Brent St Patricks Day
- Brent Respect Festival
- Brent Eid (indoor)
- Navrati – organised by a community organisation with funding from Brent
- Brent Christmas (programme of events, some indoor and some outdoor)
- Gladstonbury Festival and Funday – Queens Park
- Roundwood Fireworks
- TriUnity
- Countryside Day
- Brent Dance Month (with some outdoor events)
- Notting Hill Carnival comes into the south of the borough.
- Fairground events with George Irving
- Circus events
- The French Market at High Road Wembley includes music and entertainment
- Kilburn Festival in Kilburn Grange Park
- Wembley World Flavour – food and music festival in town centre • Festival Brazil – market in Willesden Green with carnival music (cancelled in 2009 but possibly to be revived).

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The draft events strategy was incorporated into a borough cultural strategy and this is currently in a consultation process. The cultural strategy is being finalised.

Events in Brent link into many council policies and strategies, such as the zero waste and sustainability strategy.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefits are community cohesion and opportunities to celebrate the borough’s diversity, opportunities for local people to develop a sense of belonging and to make new friends and opportunities to promote the borough and the local authority. Events also promote the cultural economy in Brent through creating opportunities within events and increasing the capacity of artists, performers and organisations to run events.

Noise was identified as a potential problem, particularly for events licensed by a temporary event notice rather than by a premises licence.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

There are a few very good parks and green spaces in the borough, although some of the 80 parks are very small. Brent’s diverse community is an advantage and allows for a broad range of cultural input into the boroughs events.

The capacity of the police to support events is a consideration as they already provide so much support to events at Wembley.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

The festivals team monitors its own events with audience and participant questionnaires. The team is looking to develop the questionnaires to include evidence for the economic benefits of events. This has been done and implemented at Diwali, Eid, Chanukah, Christmas and Holocaust Memorial Day. The questionnaire results get fed into the events reports and influence planning for the future.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The festivals team is keen to open up all of its events to more diverse audiences, with the Brent Diwali as a role model. This event has 55 per cent attendance from those who celebrate Diwali as a religious event but the remaining 45 per cent of its audience reflects the borough’s diverse population.

There is also awareness that most of the events programme takes place in the south of the borough and although people in the north of the borough do travel to the events in the south, the festivals team is keen to encourage events in the north.

In 2010 Brent is developing a festivals strategy that will define the events the borough holds and why they are held. It may result in a major change in the current event programme.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

There are charges for parks hires but these are in review following a benchmarking process. Costs for traffic management orders depend on the event and what is required.

The police currently support some longstanding events free of charge but are starting to charge for new events.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is a core budget to support the authority’s main events. The festivals team also raises £53,000 from a range of sources including sponsorship, trade stands and funfairs.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There are arts grants available to support festivals and events with a strong arts element. There are also grants available to community organisations wanting to have a float in Brent Diwali.

The authority also has service level agreements with some of the larger organisations who contribute to the festivals and events programme.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Brent raises £30,000 sponsorship for its events programme.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The mayor attends all of Brent’s main events. All major events have a community advisory forum. Members advise on the event and act as ambassadors for it in their communities.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Emergency planning officers from Brent ran training for event organisers in 2009. There will be training for health certification for food stalls at events, aimed at encouraging a showcase for ethnic diversity through food diversity.

Jointly with Western Wedge (seven local authorities: Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) there will be training in ‘how to run an event’ and sustainability.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

Guidance, advice and support is available at any time. Brent has produced Brent’s advice pack to organising events in the borough and this will be available online with hard copies available for reference only in all local authority libraries and one-stop shops.

The comprehensive advice pack’s contents are:

- What is an ‘event?’
- Introduction
- Your responsibility as an event organiser
- Elements of an event
- Getting started
- Define your event
- You and your team
- Event management plan
- Site plan/site map
- Costs and budgets
- Emergency planning and risk-assessment
- The Brent process
- Brent council and your event
- Safety advisory group
- Permissions (licensing; permission to use an event site; traffic management orders; permissions for caterers or special treatments; permissions for music and entertainment; Civil Aviation Authority; permissions to publicise or communicate)
- Notification to local residents and local businesses
- Council sustainability policies
- Ready, set...go
- After the event

The pack includes 12 fact sheets:

- References and resources for detailed information
- Brent departments (what they do and contacts)
- The event plan (what it should include)
- Timeline (advice on what needs to be done and how far in advance)
- Risk-assessment (including a brief example)
- Site maps (with an example)
- Brent parks
- Events in Wembley
- Volunteers
- Keep it Green
- Traffic, road closures and parking suspensions
- Publicity

5.4 Equipment resources

None is available.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Brent has a Geographic Information System department that can send CAD (Computer Aided Design) maps to event organisers for use as site plans. The events team also has a bank of maps for use by event organisers working in the borough’s main parks or spaces. 6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

See 5.3.

6.2 First points of contact

Brent is currently reviewing its event application process to allow for a one-stop system. The first point of contact has yet to be confirmed.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

The application to hold an event in Brent is for all events in the borough, regardless of whether in a park, street or public building. This application replaces the previous parks application. The application advises applicants to read the Brent event guide before completing the application form. No supporting documents are required on first contact. The event application form clearly sets out the Brent process.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Applicants are advised to put in their first application (with basic details only) 9–12 months before an event. Six to nine months’ notice is requested for licence applications.

Traffic management orders need 12 weeks’ notice and need to be agreed before this time.

Events management plans are required within two weeks of an event being approved.

6.5 Once an application is received

The application, which is completed and submitted online, alerts the appropriate council officers about the event. Brent council’s health and safety and licensing department will confirm receipt of the application and will either request clarification on some points, request that applicants attend an informal meeting, or confirm that applicants may continue with their planning.

(Applicants are reminded to look at the timeline fact sheet and check times for permissions.)

If a safety advisory group (SAG) meeting is required, event organisers are contacted and asked to upload their event management plan and risk-assessments including a site plan and emergency plan. Safety advisory group meetings are requested if the events require a premises licence, if alcohol is to be sold, if there is a bonfire or fireworks proposed or if the event requires a road closure. For the more complex events, more than one safety advisory group meeting may be required.

Agreements to hire parks are issued on condition that the safety advisory group approves the event. Members of the safety advisory group may visit the event site during the build and during the event. A safety advisory group debrief is held after the event.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Guidance, advice and support is available at any time and Brent officers have close working relationships with event stakeholders through the event-specific advisory forums.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are four local authority parks and spaces in Brent that have premises licences. It is not known if these licences cover alcohol. The premises licences are for Roundwood Park, Barham Park, Gladstone Park, South Kilburn Open Space.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There are very good communications between all of the different teams from arts and events through to all participants in the safety advisory group, which includes health, safety and licensing department, environmental health officers for food and noise and the relevant emergency services.

Other officers pulled into safety advisory group meetings on a needs basis include: traffic management, town regeneration, parks, Wembley liaison, the event security and first aid providers, Brent street care, the emergency planning officer and Brent’s festivals manager. All of the above have worked together to produce the Brent advice pack for organising events in the borough.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Events can receive all the support they require from communications, provided they have the budget to pay for it, as the communications team is currently self-financing. Brent’s system of internal charges is, however, under review.

Events marketing complies with corporate guidelines. Where events are organised in partnership with community organisations and the marketing does not totally follow the corporate guidelines, the publicity materials have to be signed off by the communications team.

Brent has its own event Facebook and Twitter pages and an online ‘what’s on’ guide. The Brent Brain, which is an independent website, lists all events in the borough. The Brent website includes publicity for only the council organised or supported events. Brent part funds the Brent Brain.

Brent events and festivals are included in the Western Wedge summer and winter events programmes that cover events and festivals in seven London boroughs.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Brent is actively involved in the London Events Forum. Brent is one of the seven local authorities that form the Western Wedge (along with Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea). The Western Wedge has its own festivals and events website, jointly publishes festivals and events programmes for summer and winter and has collaborated on a bid to secure funding for the development of street arts in black and ethnic minority groups. Western Wedge also joint finances some training.

Brent Dance Month forms part of the West London Dance Festival.

There is a town centre partnership with Camden for Kilburn High Road.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The festivals team works closely with community organisations and their representatives through the festival advisory forums set up for each of the borough’s main events.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The Brent advice pack for organisers of events in the borough is a good toolkit and contains good fact sheets. London Borough of Camden Outdoor arts events and activity

Camden is an inner London borough with a population of over 202,600 in 2180 hectares. Venues that can be used for outdoor arts events include 68 local authority parks and green spaces. There are also three nature reserves.

Seven parks managed by the council have Green Flag Award status: Bloomsbury Square, Russell Square, Brunswick Square, St George’s Gardens, St Martin’s Gardens, Talacre Gardens and Waterlow Park. Hampstead Heath, which is owned and managed by the City of London, is in the borough, as is part of Regent’s Park, one of London’s Royal Parks. (The other part of Regent’s Park is in the City of Westminster). Bedford Estates and the British Museum also have open space that is occasionally used for events and there are four main town centres.

1 Staffing

Under the head of arts and tourism there is a principal arts officer, a senior arts development officer and an arts information officer. They work closely with the events and premises officer in parks and open spaces. There is also an events officer in the Camden Centre team.

2 Event programme/activity

Camden has a large and diverse programme of events, mostly organised by community and arts organisations, but often in partnership with the council. All events are promoted as part of the borough’s overall events programme.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

The council occasionally organises its own events but predominantly works to support or work in partnership with community organisers.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

No events organised by other parts of the council were identified.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There are a large number of community organisations and individuals who organise their own outdoor arts events. The grants managed by the arts and tourism team encourage this.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Commercial events are occasionally held in the borough’s parks and open spaces. The council does not generally host events in which it is necessary to close off parks to the public.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

June

- Charlotte Street Festival
- Hatton Garden Festival
- Equinox Festival – Conway Hall and Camden Centre
- Fair in the Square – Pond Square
- Primrose in the Pink – Chalcot Square community festival
- Friends of Brunswick Square – community celebration
- South End Green Association – community festival
- Wellcome Picnic – Cumberland Market
- Estelle Road Street Party – community festival

July

- Queen Square Fair – 40 community stalls, arts and crafts classes, musical entertainment
- Jester Festival at Fortune Green Open Space • Camden Bangladesh Mela at Regents Park and British Museum • Inkerman Area Residents Association – community celebration • Swiss Cottage Festival community festival with participation of Hampstead Theatre, the Winch, etc • Friends of St Martin’s Gardens Festival • Kilburn Festival, Kilburn Grange Park • Ingestre Road Summer Festival • Kings Cross Country Show, Coram’s Field • Camden New Town Community Festival – Camden Square • Praise Chapel Community Festival • Queens Crescent Community Festival

August • The Camden Fringe – arts festival • Castle Haven Community Festival – large community event

September • Marchmont Street Party: bands on stage, plus dance acts with audience participation and children’s entertainers • Gayton Festival 2009 – annual community street party that has been running for over 30 years with a focus on children • Perfect Day Swiss Cottage • Lady Somerset Road Street Party • Belsize Eco Week – a week long series of events including a Green Fair on Haverstock Hill

October/ November • Return to Camden Town Festival

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The cultural and events strategies are under review. The arts and tourism team is presently refreshing its plans in light of the economic recession.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits: • creating a sense of place and belonging, facilitating social bonding in neighbourhoods • improving quality of life • creating opportunities to engage with the arts (especially for those residents whose financial situation may not allow them access to the range of arts venues available nearby) • providing work experience for volunteers.

Problems: • overcrowding – particularly around Camden Market and during the Camden Crawl • issues with fouling and litter.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages: • Camden has a very culturally active community. • There are also very good professional networks among people who work in the borough (at the British Museum and British Library, for example) which enable high-quality arts to be integrated into local community events.

Disadvantages: • Camden has some excellent open spaces but they are mostly very small, which means they cannot accommodate events for over 5,000 people and these larger events are restricted to a few parks. The council has to be sensitive to the impact of the larger events on residents. • Not all friends of parks groups are supportive of events and proposals can be blocked at the consultation stage.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

All events that receive any grants from the council are required to monitor and evaluate their event, including composition of the audience. A feedback and review meeting is also held annually in October with all the organisers of festivals and events in Camden’s parks and open spaces. The October 2009 debrief included a training session on how to evaluate events and develop audiences. This debrief provides a useful opportunity for the community event organisers to network and to share experiences and expertise. A member of the arts team attends all funded events to monitor quality. There are regular access audits of the borough events.

Camden has a cultural map of the borough and is aware of the area where there is little engagement with the arts. This map has been overlaid onto a map of the borough’s mental health and it was evidenced that mental health issues were more prevalent where there was minimal engagement with the arts. The programme of events being developed will reflect these findings.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

Camden would like to reduce the bureaucracy for events, to work more with the other central London boroughs, to encourage more volunteering opportunities and to develop more outdoor promenade performances. It would like to offer more training opportunities to community event organisers. It wants to develop events in the parts of the borough where low engagement with the arts coincides with a higher incidence of poor mental health.

The borough aims to develop and get online the system that it has devised, which reacts automatically to the event checklist that applicants submit with their applications to hold an event.

The checklist itemises all the elements of an outdoor event and all safety issues. Applicants merely have to tick ‘yes’/’no’ or ‘not sure’ boxes.

The system would identify, for example, whether an applicant requires a road closure; if so, it would automatically send the applicant the guidelines on road closures, an application form and the contact details of the relevant officer. If the applicants are unsure whether they need a road closure, the system will send them guidance and advice to help them make that decision and also put them in direct contact with an officer who can offer support. Simultaneously the system would notify the relevant officer either that an application is to be expected, from whom and for what, or tell them that the applicant is in need of support.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

Camden has an income-generation target for park hires of £40,000. Community groups are not charged for use of the parks and open spaces for festivals and events, but may be charged for equipment loan (such as standpipes), or additional services, such as waste clearance.

Commercial hire rates depend on the size and duration of the event but rates for central London venues start from £2,000 per day. Camden does not actively encourage commercial hires, due to the impact on residents.

All event organisers are liable for any damage to the parks and may be charged a deposit. Traffic management orders are generally free to community organisations and the council supplies and erects the barriers and signage required.

4.2 Funding for council events

The council occasionally organises its own events but mostly it supports community initiatives that demonstrate a quality experience and high levels of engagement.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

The Camden arts and tourism service manages two grant schemes relevant to outdoor arts events which are designed to reflect the borough’s strategic priorities especially in terms of local legacy as part of the Cultural Olympiad programme leading up to 2012.

The creative projects grant is for up to £1,000 and is suitable for arts performances or projects regardless of whether indoor or outdoor.

The Festival Fund is a programme to support street events and festivals. Events for less than 499 people can apply for up to £750 and events for between 500 and 1500 people can apply for up to £2,000. Events for over 1500 people are advised to talk to the arts team and grants for the larger festivals can be between £10,000 and £20,000.

The Camden website also links into Grant Net, which will search for appropriate funding for organisations in Camden. If organisations identify funds which they think may be appropriate to their event, they are recommended to contact the community development and regeneration team at Camden who will then provide further information and advice on how to take an application forward.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Camden does not undertake any fundraising activities for events. 5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Members involved with plans for the Cultural Olympiad are very supportive of the events programme.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

In partnership with Wandsworth Camden is organising a networking and training event for all community organisers from the Central Arts Partnership (CAP) boroughs. It is keen to develop more training opportunities.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

Guidance, advice and support are available at any time from the arts team. There are useful guidelines on the website on licensing, traffic management orders, and environmental health.

Celebrate Camden (written in 2006), is also available online and is a guide for planning outdoor community events. It is targeted at organisers of small events (up to 100 people) and medium-sized events (up to 499 people). The guide covers: getting organised (including timelines); programming; money matters; permissions; health and safety planning; publicity; contacts; case studies. It also contains advice sheets on working with volunteers, site-planning (with an example site plan), funding applications, identifying hazards and risk assessments.

There is online information about some of the borough’s parks, including those that have a Green Flag.

5.4 Equipment resources

The council does not have event equipment for community groups to borrow. The borough’s traffic management team does however supply and set out signage, barriers and cones free of charge to community groups, where a traffic management order is in place.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Maps of the parks are available from the parks and open spaces team. These are presently being updated and written especially for event organisers.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

See 5.3.

6.2 First points of contact

The first points of contact are the parks office – to book a park – and usually the senior arts development officer, who can advise on funding and event development.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

To book a park, event organisers need to submit a proposal giving their details, dates, times, site required, and the infrastructure that will be used. Event organisers are advised to do this at the start of their planning process. They will usually at the same time approach the arts team regarding funding. In order to submit an application for funding the organiser has to complete an event checklist, which will then alert officers to needs such as a licence, road closure, information on environmental health, etc.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Parks and open spaces request three months’ notice for a small event, and six months at least for large events.

Ten days’ notice is required for a temporary event notice.

Three months’ notice is required for premises licences but this can be longer for larger, more complex events. Traffic management orders need eight weeks’ notice minimum.

6.5 Once an application is received

Local ward councillors are consulted about the proposed event. Stakeholders, including friends groups are usually consulted, especially for new events.

The senior arts development officer assesses the application and the ability of the organisers to deliver a good and safe event. He/she ensures that the relevant council officers are in touch with the organisers and in some circumstances may act as a conduit between the event organisers and the relevant council officers. Festivals and events cannot access funding unless they have completed the event checklist, which ensures that the festivals have the appropriate licences, permissions, safety paperwork etc.

There are guidelines on traffic management for outdoor events attached to the application form for road closures. Organisers are later required by parks to submit risk-assessments, insurance and licence details and site plans. Once an application to hire a park has been approved, a hire agreement is issued by parks.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Advice and support are available at any stage of the process and usually the organisers are invited to meet the arts team. The arts team takes organisers through all the requirements and elements from the event guide that is relevant to their event, thus offering a bespoke support service. Arts officers may also attend committee meetings for the larger events.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are no local authority parks and spaces in Camden which have premises licences. Part of Regents Park does however have a premises licence.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There are close working relations between the tourism and arts team, parks and open spaces and colleagues from environmental health, licensing and traffic management. The council is also looking at a joined-up provision of events that integrates staff working on health, sustainability and community cohesion projects. There is a council-wide safety advisory group to review large events.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Camden events organise all their own publicity materials, but all events in the boroughs parks are automatically put onto the What’s on and arts pages at Camden’s website, as well as London’s the Seer website, an overall programme is published.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Parks and arts officers from Camden belong to the London Events Forum. Camden is part of the Central Arts Project and has worked on a range of projects jointly. It is also one of the ‘Gateways to the Games’ boroughs (along with Islington, City of London, Westminster, Wandsworth, Southwark and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea). One of the projects they are working on together is ‘secret spaces’ – a series of events in unusual places.

Camden worked with City of London and Islington on a dance project on Hampstead Heath.

In 2009 Camden and Islington worked together on the Camden People’s Theatre Voyages performance along the canal. The performance took place in both boroughs but it was agreed that only one licence was required, and Islington accepted that Camden could license the whole event.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Camden has very close working relations with all of the organisers of outdoor arts events and community festivals in the borough.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

Camden keeps its annual list of community festivals on its website throughout the year so that those who may wish to participate or perform know what opportunities there will be in the summer. The list of festivals gives all contact details for the organisers as well as a brief description of the festival, written by the festival organisers. This list is also useful to those who may wish to volunteer at events in the borough or become involved with the organising committees. Camden appears to be the only borough that does this.

Camden aims to develop an online system of applications that automatically provides organisers with information and guidance appropriate to their event. When working, this will enable applicants to receive all the necessary information they require and to connect directly to appropriate officers in the authority. It is, in effect, an event-specific toolkit. City of London Corporation Outdoor arts events and activity

The City of London is situated in inner London with a residential population of approximately 8,000 in just over one square mile. Although the resident population is small there are around 320,000 people who work in the city. It has over 150 parks, gardens, churchyards and plazas. The majority within the City are small spaces. The city’s streets are sometimes used for major public events.

The City of London Corporation (which provides local government services for the City) also owns and manages a large selection of outdoor spaces outside its boundaries – notable examples being Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood, Epping Forest, Burnham Beeches, West Ham Park and Queen’s Park as well as five bridges across the Thames (Blackfriars, Southwark, London, Tower and Millennium).

Private on-street spaces which have been used for events include the Royal Exchange forecourt, Broadgate Arena, and the area in front of the steps of St Paul’s. The City of London has fifteen Green Flag Awards and seven Green Heritage Awards.

1 Staffing

The City Corporation does not employ dedicated events officers. When an event is due to take place on a street managed by the City Corporation, events are coordinated by the City Corporation’s highways team, to whom a completed application for activity on the highway must be submitted by the event organiser. Liaison is then managed with the emergency services, other City departments, neighbouring highway authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that the event is given appropriate consideration, the necessary approvals are in place, and that City stakeholders are fully informed.

Transport for London (TfL) is responsible for four major routes through the Square Mile (red routes), and where events primarily take place on their road network (such as the London Marathon), then TfL takes the lead coordination role. In that instance, the City’s highways team will liaise closely with their TfL counterparts to ensure a successfully managed event.

The City Corporation’s film office manages all applications for filming within the City, assessing highway, cleansing, parking, environmental health and emergency service considerations, and co-ordinating the necessary parties to suit the requirements of each film shoot.

Major events of which the City Corporation is part – for example, Tour de France, Beijing Torch Relay, Lord Mayor’s Show – are promoted by the City Corporations public relations office who also manage the visitor experience at the event.

The City of London Festival is sponsored by the City Corporation but has its own board of directors and staff. The Barbican Centre is provided by the City Corporation but all programming and event activity is managed by The Barbican in-house.

2 Event programme/activity

Individual events within the City are promoted by the event organiser or venue (or, by the City Corporation if it is the event organiser). The public relations office of the City Corporation publishes a quarterly events highlights leaflet for visitors, residents and workers – this includes a selection of events that are taking place during the period (not all) and will feature a number of events that take place in neighbouring boroughs. where the event is close to the City or easily accessible by its communities. The highways team also circulates details of planned events to key City stakeholders every month, and includes details on its weekly traffic management bulletin that is sent to over 600 individuals, organisations and City businesses by email every week.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the City of London

The only regular major outdoor event promoted by the City Corporation is its historic Lord Mayor’s Show (second Saturday in November), which regularly attracts around 6,000 participants and 400,000 spectators. One-off major events over recent years in which the City Corporation has been involved include the Tour de France, Beijing Torch Relay and Disney’s A Christmas Carol.

The City of London Festival is an arts festival sponsored by the City of London Corporation. It is held for three weeks in June/July. The festival also organises (on behalf of the City Corporation) a summer programme of free outdoor (and undercover) events which runs June to August and a free winter concerts programme in City churches (January to March).

2.2 Outdoor events organised by other parts of the City of London Corporation

The Barbican Centre is owned by the City of London Corporation and has its own programme of events which has included outdoor events in the past.

There are a number of civic and ceremonial events held in the City – these are not usually open to the public, however there are some exceptions such as the annual Cart Marking Ceremony held in Guildhall Yard in July.

The open spaces teams / rangers occasionally organise their own smaller events – particularly in the spaces outside the City boundaries.

2.3 Outdoor events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups and town centres

Outdoor events organised by external promoters include The Smithfield Nocturne, City of London Festival and concerts and other entertainments in Broadgate Arena and Paternoster Square. Where possible, the City Corporation promotes these events in its quarterly events guide but this is at the editor’s discretion and can be dependent on space and other issues. Some events in neighbouring boroughs that are easily accessible by the City’s communities are also promoted within these publications – these have included the Shoreditch Festival, the Mayor’s Thames Festival and Spitalfields Festival amongst others.

2.4 Commercial arts events

The City has hosted a number of events that access its streets, though most of these have been of a sporting nature (eg London Marathon, Tour de France etc). Corporate and commercial events are accommodated subject to assessment via the application for activity on the highway as detailed in item 1.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

Regular, major outdoor events taking place in (or passing through) the City include the following (please note that these are subject to change):

April – May

- London Marathon
- BUPA 10k Road Race
- Race for Life

June – August

- Smithfield Nocturne
- Crisis Square Mile Run
- Spitalfields Festival
- City of London Festival
- Free summer events series
- The Standard Chartered Great City Race

September

- Open House Weekend
- Great River Race
- Thames Festival
- London Cycle Freewheel

November

- The Lord Mayor’s Show

November – March

- Ice rink at Broadgate Arena

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

There is no individual strategy dedicated to outdoor events. The City’s cultural strategy and its visitor strategy cover this topic to some degree. The cultural strategy has recently been drafted and approved and the visitor strategy is in the process of being updated. There is a City arts and culture working party comprised of elected members and a City arts and culture forum comprised of officers and chaired by Graham Sheffield, Artistic Director of the Barbican – this forum reports to the working party.

Parks and open spaces feed into the overall strategies – the City Together Strategy covers spaces within the City limits and the corporate plan covers spaces such as Hampstead Heath which are outside the City limits. The City Corporation’s Street Scene initiative also contributes to overall City cultural strategy.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefits of outdoor arts events are considered to be the enhancement of the visitor experience, providing access to the arts for City workers and residents and aiding regeneration.

The City of London is one of the largest funders of the arts in the UK and it is considered important that this is reflected in its event profile – however, outdoor event activity is restricted by the availability of open spaces which are often too small for any large scale activity. These spaces can be “expanded” through road closures which are only viable at weekends or (on occasion) in the evening. Finally, the City’s bylaws prohibit advertising on the public highway, which means that purely commercial events intended to advertise a product or company are prohibited.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

As discussed under the previous item – the City has a wealth of small open spaces but these are often too small for any major outdoor activity and would require road closures to extend the audience area (only possible at weekends in the main). There are a few “privately-owned” spots that lend themselves to small to mid-scale activity including Paternoster Square, Broadgate Arena and the pavement in front of St Paul’s Cathedral.

One advantage is that the City workers are largely absent over the weekend which means there is more capacity for visitors; the disadvantage is that – outside the areas around the main visitor attractions – many of the cafes and bars and shops close due to this. Also, weekends being the quiet time, this is when the major roadworks and the movement of large plant (required to keep up with the City’s hectic construction schedules) takes place.

On the plus side, transport connections to the City are excellent.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

A working group of officers has been set up to informally assess applications for events based on quality/appropriateness. The City Corporation monitors and evaluates the events of which it is a part but does not do this for events promoted by external parties. That said, if an event is likely to cause a public order issue or generate complaints from the City’s various communities a full assessment of the situation will be undertaken.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The City Corporation is working towards a more formalised approach to the event application, co-ordination and management process, including event assessment, approval and (if necessary) member involvement. Ideally, the City would like to have dedicated staff to handle the increasing number of applications, but this may depend on available resources.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

The possibility of using a park or open space for an event depends on the size and nature of the event and the type of organisation. Charges may apply and initial enquiries should be passed to the City gardens manager for sites in the Square Mile and to the appropriate superintendent for open spaces outside of the City.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is no centrally-held budget for City-organised events – the Barbican (part of the City Corporation) and the City of London Festival (an external partner sponsored by the City Corporation) have their own budgets. The City Corporation’s involvement in one-off major events (eg Tour de France) is assessed on an individual basis and where a budget is required, application is made by officers to the relevant committee.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Community event organisers can contact the public relations office for funding information and can apply to the policy and resources committee on a one-off basis, though at the moment there are limited funds available. The City's finance sub committee also considers grants from organisations with charitable purposes, including arts/cultural events organisations.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Private and commercial sponsorship of City Corporation promoted events is sought on an event by event basis where appropriate.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The City arts and culture working party comprises a number of high profile members who support the arts. The ‘Vibrant and Culturally Rich City’ group – a partnership of City officers and representatives of retail/hotels in the City – also includes a number of advocates of the arts.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

There is no training available to community events organisers.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

Currently, there is no toolkit available for event organisers, but the highways team and City public relations office will soon be developing guidelines that will include contact details, FAQs, approximate timescales for approvals and relevant fees and charges. Those wishing to organise an outdoor event on-street in the city should contact, in the first instance, the Traffic Manager, Department of Environmental Services, City of London, PO Box 270, Guildhall, London EC2P 2EJ. Filming applications should be made direct to the film office – information and application forms are available at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/film

5.4 Equipment resources

There are no equipment resources.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Site specific plans and maps can be provided by the City gardens manager (or the appropriate superintendents for spaces outside of the City). The City has its own Geographic Information System (GIS).

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

Please see item 5.3

6.2 First points of contact

Please see item 5.3

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

A clear, written explanation of the proposed event, proposed location, time and date are a pre-requisite. A risk-assessment will be required in the early stages, as will an assessment of the approximate impact on traffic if road closures are required.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

There is no advised timeline but events requiring licences are bound by the deadlines set by the Licensing Act. Events requiring road closures require a minimum of six weeks notice for the creation and advertising of the necessary traffic order, but due to the volume of other activities taking place on the City's highway network (such as street works and building site operations), longer notice is strongly advised. Also, where TfL streets (red routes) are affected, additional notice will be required.

6.5 Once an application is received

In general, the event will be assessed by officers and a decision in principle given. Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to obtain member approval for an event via the City's committee structure. Relevant permissions with the appropriate authorities (eg TfL, police, PLA etc) will then need to be obtained by the organiser – this includes the organiser completing the City Corporation’s application for activity on the highway.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

See item 5.3.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Licences can be issued to caterers in some of the larger open spaces outside of the city that have refreshment facilities. Further details can be provided by the appropriate superintendent.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

Through the City Corporation’s Significant External Events Group (SEEG) – an informal group of officers including the City of London police, highway management and the public relations office) – relevant staff affected by the proposed event will be identified and contacted. The visitor strategy group and the City arts and culture forum are also forums used for information sharing between departments.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The City Corporation is very strong on promotion of the festivals and events that take place in its parks, open spaces and in its streets. It also includes independently organised events in its publicity where details are known and the event is considered relevant and appropriate to its audiences. The communications all adhere to corporate design guidelines and are marketed as one unit through a range of media. This includes quarterly printed programmes, email shots to 12,000 people who have signed up to receive information and promotion on the City’s visitor website. No street advertising is permitted in the City.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The City has many partners and liaises frequently with both neighbouring boroughs and also those boroughs whose boundaries include parks or open spaces owned and managed by the City. The City Corporation also has representation on the Central Arts Partnership (CAP) and the London Local Authority Arts Network which are cross-borough communications groups.

The City Corporation promotes events outside the City in its publicity where appropriate – especially those taking place close to its boundaries and that are easily accessible by the City community.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The parks and open spaces with Green Flag awards have close community relations. The public relations office works closely with City arts partners and visitor attractions and maintains a calendar of what’s on – this information it uses in the above mentioned publications.

The Barbican and other City arts initiatives are involved in a number of collaborations eg EAST and CREATE.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The City Corporation co-ordinates a group of volunteers who are trained to work as stewards at major events in the City. The group are known as the ‘SquareMilers’ and are nurtured by the City as a valuable resource as they not only have appropriate training to work as stewards but also have knowledge of local transport, City history, directions and facilities. This means they are well equipped to deal with visitors’ enquiries and to take a public relations as well as practical role. London Borough of Croydon Outdoor arts events and activity

Croydon is an outer London borough with a population of over 341,800 in 8650 hectares. It has 120 parks, gardens and open spaces. Five parks managed by the local authority have Green Flag Award status.

1 Staffing

In the arts service, which is in the culture directorate, under the head of arts and heritage, there is an arts manager, a freelance programming and freelance marketing officer (solely responsible for the Clocktower venue), two arts development officers, an arts participation officer and a part-time assistant arts participation officer. One of the arts development officers also works on the festival.

The conferences and hires team in the operations department deals with applications for park hires, regardless of the nature of the event. This role is to be reassigned through a safer events group.

2 Outdoor event programme/activity

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

The Croydon Festival takes place over two days and consists of World Party and the Mela. It is funded mainly by the council, along with grants from bodies such as Performing Right Society and sponsorship. The production is contracted out to an event management company.

There were also eight other outdoor arts events led by the council, including the Big Lunch street event (with satellite events held across the borough), Black History Month and Can You Dig It. Croydon also included outdoor events in its programme for their On the Map event.

2.2 Outdoor events organised by other parts of the council

See events listed on Events Listing appendix.

2.3 Outdoor events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups and town centres

See events listed on Events Listing appendix.

2.4 Commercial arts events

No list available at present.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The events programme links into the council’s overall strategies (young people, sustainability and regeneration, for example) and to the Arts Council England’s priorities.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits:

- bringing quality arts to the community thereby improving access to the arts
- promoting community cohesion
- promoting healthy living and use of open spaces
- facilitating intergenerational contact through joint activities and celebrations
- effective launch pads for educational arts activities

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- Croydon has a rich and multicultural community and a wide range of arts activities and organisations that reflect this diversity
- access to infrastructure and a good technical team to support outdoor events with staging and sound equipment etc.
- the arts team has good working relations with the town centre managers and Croydon businesses
- the licensing and health and safety officers in the council are supportive of the outdoor events.

Disadvantages:

- despite its excellent transport links, Croydon is wrongly perceived as a long way from central London
- the borough has many beautiful parks and open spaces but few of them have good parking facilities
- there have been decreasing budgets for outdoor arts events and the Croydon Summer Festival is now reduced to one weekend (the street arts festival and the finale event having been cut four years ago). The budget for the World Party and Mela has also been reduced in the last few years and looks likely to be further reduced in 2010.
- there is no events team to manage bookings or stimulate interest
- conference and hires are mainly venue-focused.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Feedback forms are gathered by the arts team at most events and these inform the event development. There is a steering group for the festival and for Black History Month; these feed back at debrief meetings and their information is used to instigate change for the following year.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The outdoor event programme is being expanded to year-round activity and will be boosted by external funding. The council needs an events team to make the most of the wealth of parks and open spaces in the borough.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

There is no set income-generation target. There is a daily park hire charge in three categories – commercial £615 per day, charitable events £116 per day and minor events of up to 50 people £64.

4.2 Funding for council events

The council provides a separate budget for the Croydon Summer Festival, with smaller outdoor events funded from the arts development budget, budgets from other council departments (when there is partnership working) along with support from outside funding and sponsorship.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There were two levels of arts grant available to arts event organisers – £1,000 and £3,000 with a total of £30,000. As well as the Croydon arts officers, representatives from neighbouring boroughs were on the panel to assess these applications. This has been frozen since March 2009 and has now been assimilated into one large grant (with other small grants from across the council) which is the three-year stronger communities fund.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The arts team fundraises for its main events and sponsorship packages are put together. Much of the sponsorship is ‘in-kind’.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The mayor, director of culture and the chief executive are supportive and attend the outdoor events.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

There are currently no event-related training schemes or seminars.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The website has guidelines on licensing and a Guide to organising safe events. There is also an A-Z list of all the parks and open spaces that gives location, area, facilities, history and a map of the park.

5.4 Equipment resources

The council has access to some technical equipment such as backline, staging and public address systems, via the Clocktower.

There is a stock of tables, chairs and small branded tents for outdoor events. 5.5 Maps and site plans

Basic maps are available online and more detailed maps suitable for site plans are available via the parks department.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

Information on the parks and health and safety at events is available online but all other information needs to be obtained from the conference and hires officer.

6.2 First points of contact

This varies, although most commonly enquiries will be put through either to parks or to the events officer.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

There is a park event enquiry form which is very basic. This directs the applicant to other departments, such as licensing and traffic management. There is no one-stop shop for event organisers who, as well as the parks application, have to complete a ‘notice of a public event’ form and send it to licensing – before then submitting applications for the appropriate licence.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

The statutory notice periods are required for event licences. Traffic management orders require a minimum of 10 weeks’ notice.

6.5 Once an application is received

The conference and hires officer processes applications, decides whether the event goes ahead and what other requirements are made of the applicants. Groups are required to produce risk-assessments and to have a minimum of £5 million public liability insurance. The licensing officers may request further documentation, depending on the size and nature of the event.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The arts and hires teams are available to offer advice and support. The arts team is forming a festivals forum – potentially providing networking, training/skills sharing, combined marketing, etc for arts events only.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Three parks in Croydon have premises licences.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There are good internal communications between arts, events, licensing, health and safety, and community services.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Due to the volume of events covered by the Clocktower and around the borough, the arts team does its own marketing and is responsible for all promotions and most press and publicity. This is considered a major advantage as excellent working relations have developed with the local press and although the festival and other events only occasionally pay to advertise their events, they receive excellent coverage.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The arts development officers are members of the London Events Forum and also the sub-regional arts officer group, the South London Arts Partnership (SLAP) – along with Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton, Bromley.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

There are good working relations being established with the community organisations who access the borough’s parks and green spaces for events. The borough is also working to increase its relationships with organisers of commercial events.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

It is very useful that the application to hire a park or open space gives clear information about how the application will be processed, what the next stages are and what further requirements are likely to be made of the event organisers. The London Borough of Ealing is classified as one of the outer London boroughs, although it is not on the periphery. The borough has a population of 309,000 in 5,553 hectares and includes over 100 parks and open spaces. These include allotments, cemeteries, playgrounds, and golf courses, in addition to the larger open spaces, such as nature conservation areas. The borough has three parks that have Green Flag status.

1 Staffing

In 2009 Ealing appointed an external events contractor – Event Umbrella – to manage all its outdoor council events and to coordinate all the outdoor community events that take place in its parks and open spaces and in its streets. The contract will run for four to six years.

The contract manager of Event Umbrella works 1-2 days per week and reports to the head of parks and leisure. There are four full-time staff – an operations manager, two event coordinators, and a community event manager (these staff go to four days a week in the winter), a temporary events assistant for six months in the summer and a part-time coordinator, employed specifically to manage the Greenford Carnival and the Acton Carnival. Event Umbrella also employs all crew and stewards who work on the council’s outdoor events.

2 Outdoor events programme/activity

Ealing has a well-established programme of events.

2.1 Outdoor arts events organised by the council

The main council events managed by Event Umbrella are:

- **July**
  - Acton Carnival: £1 entry – taken over from the community as it grew too large for them to manage
  - Greenford Carnival: £1 entry – taken over from community as above
  - Comedy Festival, Walpole Park – 17 years old: ticketed festival, commercial rates
  - Opera Festival, Walpole Park – three years old: ticketed festival, commercial rates
  - Jazz Festival, Walpole Park – 25 years old: ticketed festival, £1 per ticket
  - Blues Festival, Walpole Park – 10 years old: ticketed festival, £1 per ticket, free for children and families
  - Global Festival, Walpole Park – five years old: ticketed festival, £1 per ticket, free for children and a free families area is provided outside the main event site

Also:

- Armed Forces Day – new
- London Mela – Gunnersbury Park. Event Umbrella does production only. Programme, marketing and sponsorship are managed between Remarkable Productions and the Greater London Authority (GLA). The GLA funding was reduced in 2009.

For info: Gunnersbury Park is jointly owned by Ealing and Hounslow. Ealing pays Hounslow for the maintenance of the park. Hounslow holds the premises licence.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

Information not currently available.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There are approximately 25 outdoor arts events in the borough that are organised by the community. There are also five major street events, including the Southall processions in April and October which attract up to 50,000 people, the Hindu chariots procession, and the Hanwell carnival. The council supports these events with traffic management but this service is paid for by the organisers, except for Hanwell.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Information is not currently available.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

Key points of the borough’s policies and strategies are incorporated into the Event Umbrella contract with Ealing. The annual cabinet report made by Event Umbrella provides information that can inform policy and strategy development.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefits identified are community cohesion, sense of place and pride in the borough and opportunities for engaging with the arts. The borough gets good feedback from residents that indicates that the events – especially the music ones – are very good value for money.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- Ealing has 100 parks and green spaces, many small but some very large
- very good support from members and communications
- the summer festival is very well-established and well respected by residents.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

There are comments cards at the information desks at all of the events. The communications team also devises surveys which it sends to its events email group and to friends on Facebook and Twitter. It then collates the information and produces an overall report which feeds into the annual report to cabinet members. This report includes details of spend, achievements and proposals for the following year.

Additionally Event Umbrella has carried out its own surveys, for example, at Global festival, it carried out a survey in the family area and this was how it found that the 15-17 age group was not engaging enough with the programme. It is looking at ways to redress this.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

Event Umbrella is exploring the idea of an underage style festival to redress 15-17-year-olds’ limited engagement with the current programme. It also aims to move away from central Ealing and to generate events in other parts of the borough, creating more sustainable and diverse events. There overall aims are to increase standards across all areas of event management, to develop the programme and to continue to professionalise.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

Event Umbrella needs to generate £1 million from park hires, stalls, sponsorship and ticket sales to produce the event programme.

4.2 Funding for council events

Ealing pays Event Umbrella £186,000 for the staffing of the event team and in addition pays for and supplies office space within the town hall, as well as basic running costs for phones, stationery etc.

There is a £1m budget that is generated by park hires, concessions, sponsorship and ticket sales which is earmarked for spend on the borough’s outdoor events programme, including community events. Ticket sales are outsourced to See Tickets.

Although Event Umbrella manages the programme, all contracts for the events (for example, for suppliers and artists) are with Ealing Council; the council covers the public liability insurance for the events, and the public (and often even council staff) perceive that the events programme is delivered by the council.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Event Umbrella does not have any funding available but is able to direct external community organisations to funding from the council’s grants section. There are two main sources of funding: ward forums: Ealing has 16 ward forums, each with three to four councillors as well as members of the community. Each forum has money for improvements, and a percentage of this is earmarked for events: £20,000 for revenue and £20,000 for capital, spread over a number of events.

community chest: grants up to £5,000 for running costs and up to £5,000 one-off grants to do something different – build a new carnival float, for example.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

There is very good sponsorship support from a number of councillors, the communications team, and Ealing’s head of service. Mostly they provide lead contacts that Event Umbrella can follow through. Event Umbrella is aiming to be more proactive in gaining sponsorship for next year.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Event Umbrella has a very positive relationship with members and receives a lot of support for example, with contacts for sponsorship. Its previous portfolio holder was very involved, would put forward ideas etc. Its current one is less involved, but still supportive. The leader of the council attends most of the events. Members receive free tickets to events.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Event Umbrella does not run any training or seminars.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

Event Umbrella does not at present have fact or advice sheets but the community event manager does help people get the information they require.

5.4 Equipment resources

There is access to the community store in Walpole Park, which hires out event-related equipment.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

There is currently no information pre-application form.

6.2 First points of contact

Initial enquiries are directed to the community event manager at Event Umbrella. Most first enquiries are by phone. Small, low impact events get assessed by the community events manager, larger events that will have a bigger impact on residents, for example, through parking restrictions, will go to the event safety and licensing group. Then the community event manager processes the applications for park hire and sets the licensing processes in action and aims to give as much help as possible.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

The information required from event organisers on first contact with the borough applicants will vary according to the event and the timing of that first contact. A ‘lead-in’ document is being devised to help organisers navigate the council.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Timelines are not currently set.

6.5 Once an application is received

The community events officer processes all applications.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Other support for community organisations includes:

- inclusion in the council’s event programme publicity
- help with negotiating prices with suppliers (easier for Event Umbrella because it has such a large spend with some suppliers through Ealing but also through the other festivals that it produces in London.) The community event manager advises organisers who to contact in the council about food safety, permissions for erection of banners and bunting and other permissions.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

These are generally good with all those on the events licensing and safety group. There has been some contact with the arts officers (for example, the Literature Festival was a partnership project) and this is likely to increase.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

£60,000 of the budget goes back to the council communications team which is wholly responsible for marketing the events programme from information supplied by Event Umbrella staff.

Events are marketed through advertisements at tube stations, posters on lampposts around the borough, through the local press and radio, branding of the gates at Ealing Broadway tube station, branding of mesh-fencing panels used for the events, through leaflets, summer pull-out in the local newspaper, on the borough’s website and through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Also as ticket sales are outsourced to See Tickets, the programme of events goes in their marketing, which has a broad reach.

Ealing’s logo goes on all publicity and branding and all design complies with the corporate guidelines at all times, though communications are conscious of giving the designs a festival feel.

The dedicated officer for the events marketing works to the communications manager.

All of the community events are included on the borough website and wherever possible in publicity brochures (for example, if information is available in time). Where there is a need for interviewees, for example for radio, the artistic directors of the particular festival or event would usually be used.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Officers are on London Events Forum and through Event Umbrella have contact with festivals in other boroughs. They also have been able to network with other London boroughs at GLA events. London Borough of Enfield Outdoor arts events and activity

Enfield is an outer London borough with a population of over 287,600 in 8219 hectares. Local authority outdoor spaces, many of which can be used for arts events, include 26 local parks, 27 open spaces and up to 70 other green spaces – gardens, recreations grounds and sports fields. Three town centres also programme and host events. Six parks managed by the council have the Green Flag Award.

Non-council owned venues which occasionally stage outdoor arts events include: Edmonton Green Shopping Centre.

1 Staffing

In the education, children’s services and leisure department there is a cultural manager, an arts and events development manager and an arts officer. There is currently also a manager of Forty Hall, an indoor venue with a park; the hall has its own programme of events. The cultural services and Forty Hall are due to come together under one manager. The parks department is in the ‘place-shaping and enterprise department’ and is about to take on a member of staff to organise events in parks and open spaces.

2 Event programme/activity

The arts and events team has an annual programme of festivals and events. Festivals and events are included in the ‘what’s on’ page of the council website and communities can feed their events into this.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the culture/arts/events team

The main outdoor events organised by the arts and events officers are New River Festival and the Enfield Autumn Show.

New River Festival – a free festival held annually in July, this was initially a community-led event started to celebrate the regeneration of a new river loop area. The event grew too large for the community to manage so was taken in-house by the council arts team. The council arts team has introduced a ‘green’ theme and is moving it towards being part of Children’s Art Day. The event is funded by the council and in the past had financial support from Thames Water. The event has been shortlisted in the BT Visit London Awards 2009 under the category of Consumer Event of the Year.

The Autumn Show – a 57-year-old two-day festival held in a park in Enfield Town Centre, with entry charged at £3, £2 concessions and free to under-15s. The show started when Enfield was in the countryside and focuses on horticulture, animals and vegetables. There is a crafts marquee, food and community stalls, a music stage and a central arena for displays – horses, motorcycles, etc. The event management is contracted out, with the cultural team managing the contract and influencing the programming. The event is funded by the council with a contribution from the police.

There is also the, Sights and Sounds of Edmonton, a free, one-day, outdoor arts event which has recently been funded by the council, property developer St Modwens and Arts Council England. This event has a strong participatory programme. It also commissioned an aerial performance to encourage audiences to look up and around and to take in new aspects of their environment. The police have expressed interest in supporting this festival.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

There are events which include arts activity, such as the Teddy Bears Picnic as part of National Play Day, and the fireworks display. Enfield Homes, which manages the council properties, occasionally organise its own events and asks for advice from the arts team about programme and event management. 2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There is no comprehensive list of events organised by external arts organisations or community groups, but the arts team works with Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, leased from the council to the property developers St Modwen’s. The centre stages four main festivals annually – an event at Easter, a summer event with street arts and workshops, a Halloween Lanterns event and a Winter Festival. These events are core financed by St Modwen’s with support from event specific sponsors, such as ASDA. The role of the arts and events team is to manage, advise and to provide quality control for the events’ content.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Information not known.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Edmonton Green Shopping Centre – Easter Event
- Teddy Bears’ Picnic
- New River Festival
- Edmonton Green summer events
- three bandstand concerts in Hilly Fields
- Sounds of Edmonton
- Ponder’s End Mela
- Enfield Autumn Show
- Halloween Lanterns at Edmonton Green Shopping Centre
- fireworks display
- Winter Festival at Edmonton Green Shopping Centre
- Various outdoor arts events at Forty Hall
- events organised by Enfield Business Retail Association
- events organised by Palmers Green Town Centre
- Enfield Homes’ work on neighbourhood festivals.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The arts and culture strategy is currently in the consultation process. The strategy will be jointly owned by stakeholders and anticipates a wide readership. The strategy refers to ‘the whole borough as an arts venue’, encouraging arts to be experienced in different ways and places ‘as part of the street-scene, in parks, at arts venues, in school life, in busy shopping centres, or quiet health centres’. There is an arts and events mission statement:

The Enfield council arts and events team mission is to develop and nurture high-quality arts and increase participation in creative activities and events across the borough by all sections of our diverse communities.

The arts and events team initiates and promotes high-quality engagement with the arts through arts programmes which include: festivals, exhibitions, installations, performances, outreach and professional development for artists and arts organisations. The arts and events team collaborates with and support artists and arts organisations within the borough and works in partnership with the arts sector regionally and beyond.

Events managed by the council are tailored towards meeting elements of the council’s strategies and vision. The arts and events team works with other council directorates to meet their objectives on the environment, sustainability and equality of access. For example the arts team often works with the foster care team and joint council services produces a dance project for disabled people.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main two benefits identified are the opportunity to:

- broaden access to the arts by taking exciting performance and arts activity to new audiences
- offer artists and performers the challenge of working outside their usual spaces, working with new and mixed audiences.

One challenge mentioned in association with outdoor events was the slight difficulty of gathering reliable audience data at outdoor events, though this is not considered a major problem.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

There are a number of very good parks and green spaces in the borough. There are strong advocates in the borough for outdoor arts and events. Residents and businesses and other stakeholders in Enfield are very supportive of outdoor arts and events, which are perceived as community celebrations.

One difficulty cited was that the A10 runs through the borough and audiences appear to rarely cross the east/west divide that it creates.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

All council-led events which the arts and events team are involved in, are monitored. All artists and arts providers have evaluation written into their contracts and work schedules. The marketing officer supports the team with the analysis of audience feedback. Monitoring and evaluation are used to create and maintain high standards and to highlight areas that may require development.

There are standard basic evaluation forms available for the artists and participants and for the audience.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

They would like to have an up-to-date event toolkit for the use of community event organisers in the borough. Fact sheets on the outdoor spaces available would also be useful. They would like to encourage more visitors to the borough.

4 Funding for festivals and events

There is no dedicated fund for festivals and events in the borough, though the Autumn Show does have its own budget, and also receives funding from event partners and sponsors. The council does not revenue fund any arts organisations in the borough, apart from the council-owned arts centres, such as Forty Hall. Forty Hall does not have a designated outdoor arts budget but provides outdoor arts events as part of its overall programme.

The arts and events team has a small amount of money available for arts commissions and this has mainly, but not exclusively, been used for innovative, site-specific works and outdoor arts that enable the arts to reach new and mixed audiences. The team is able to offer organisations funding advice.

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

Income-generation targets for the parks are currently unknown. There is a £100 administration fee for those applying to host an event in one of the parks, though final costs are assessed individually. Council event organisers are charged for use of the parks. Depending on the size and nature of the event (and regardless of the event organiser), parks may also take a ‘bond’ payment in advance, in case of damage to the park. The licensing section charges the standard £21 for a temporary event notice but charges for a premise licence are unavailable.

4.2 Funding for council events

Funding varies for the events according to partnerships, ownership and so forth.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There is no council funding available for non-council events. Voluntary organisations can however sign up to receive funding news from an online website. The arts and events team has a small budget for commissions.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The cultural manager manages and raises funds for the events and often brings in sponsorship through networking and council contacts. The arts and events officers also fundraise on an ad hoc basis, particularly when there are new projects they wish to get off the ground.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The cultural services team has a very good relationship with members and there is a core group of four to five councillors who are very supportive of the borough’s festivals and events. The cultural services manager is a constant advocate for outdoor arts events and is open to ideas from the arts and events team. Council officers invite all members to all events and liaise with members freely. 5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

There is no training available.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The arts and events team does not have one available at present. It did have the millennium toolkit but this is now out of date. For those wishing to hold an event in one of the borough’s parks, the parks team website gives access to an event safety guide and information on fire risk-assessments and both are available to download. There is also information on event risk-assessments – including a blank template. Those making bookings are advised to consult these downloads before making an application.

5.4 Equipment resources

There are no equipment resources available.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Blank site maps can be available from the planning department.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

The council website has:

- a list of all the main parks with variable information on each regarding history, features and facilities
- an application form that guides applicants and gives pointers to other sources of information within the council
- an event safety document, a fire risk-assessment document, information on risk-assessments for events and a template

6.2 First points of contact

This varies. Possible first points of contact depend on the desired venue. The first point of contact could be the parks department, the town centre managers, or venue specific managers. Parks information on applications for hires is available on the borough’s website.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

The website implies that a full application form, complete with risk-assessments is required on first contact, along with such items as:

- details of any fairground rides and photocopies of their documentation
- plan of the proposed site layout
- first page of the hygiene inspection report for any caterers
- photocopy of public liability insurance certificate

Applicants are advised that if their event involves animals, pyrotechnics or filming, recording or broadcasting, a separate application may be required.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

A minimum of eight weeks is advised for events with up to 2,000 people and a minimum of three months is required for larger events.

6.5 Once an application is received

The process for non-council applicants is administered through the parks team.

For the council-led events, or events where the council is working with external partners, the arts and events team will initiate a safety advisory group and ensure that the appropriate council offices (health and safety, emergency planning and liaison, licensing, environmental health, etc) are brought in to advise and monitor the planning and delivery of the events.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Arts and events officers can provide support with monitoring and quality control.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

A number of the large parks have premises licenses. 7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There is generally good communication with other council departments and the arts and events team works to ensure the council’s overall strategies and vision are reflected in the events programming. The safety action group meets as and when initiated by the arts and events team for the council’s events.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The cultural services team, tourism, town twinning and Forty Hall share their own marketing and press officer. There was a short period when the post was vacant and it was noted that many opportunities to promote events locally and nationally were missed as a result. The marketing and press officer has developed a good working relationship with the local and national press and also deals with all the marketing for the boroughs cultural events. The marketing is targeted not only at the borough’s residents but at those living beyond the borough boundaries. London-wide and national press and audiences are considered important targets in terms of raising the profile of the boroughs arts events and activities.

Marketing materials usually have to adhere to the borough’s corporate style but there are exceptions for projects where the events have external funding or partners and in these circumstances the project may commission an artist to design the marketing materials.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The arts and events team are very keen to maximise the benefits of inter-borough partnerships. As well as marketing their own events in neighbouring boroughs to increase their audience catchment area, they also receive marketing materials from Barnet, Haringey, Broxbourne and the Royal Parks. They view the display of neighbouring boroughs’ marketing as increasing their own residents’ access to the arts.

The borough has a good working relationship with Haringey. Enfield is working with Haringey and Barnet to develop the marketing of the arts and creative industries in North London. The already successful Enfield Film fund, set up in 2003 has been improved and expanded by amalgamating into the North London Film Fund, working with Haringey, Camden and Islington.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Enfield has a number of external providers of arts events, but at present little information is to hand about them.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

Instances of good practice are:

- vision of the whole borough as a potential arts venue
- commitment to access to the arts for all and track record of taking the arts to communities
- effort and achievements to integrate the arts into the delivery programmes of all council strategies and the overall vision for the borough. London Borough of Greenwich Outdoor arts events and activity

Greenwich is an inner London borough with a population of over 222,600 in 5,000 hectares. Venues that can be used for outdoor arts events include 50 local authority parks and green spaces and three town centres. Six parks managed by the council have the Green Flag Award.

There are also a number of non-council owned venues that stage outdoor arts events: Maritime Museum, Greenwich Park (one of the Royal Parks), Old Royal Naval College and the O2 Arena.

1 Staffing

In the culture and community services directorate there is one arts development officer (part of culture and arts) who programmes the artistic content of all the main outdoor council events. One parks officer takes all the initial park bookings. Both have a close working relationship with the technical manager, who is based in the communications and community engagement directorate. The technical manager is responsible for all production on the council’s own outdoor events and also gets involved with community events held in the borough’s parks.

Town centre managers in the borough also organise events.

2 Event programme/activity

Greenwich has a large and varied ‘umbrella’ programme of outdoor events, delivered by a varied range of council staff, key partners and community groups. The programme is viewed and marketed and promoted as a whole, regardless of who organises or funds the individual events. The marketed programme also includes a number of events not held on local authority-owned property for example, events held at the Maritime Museum or in Greenwich Park, which is one of the Royal parks.

2.1 Events organised by the council

As part of the community engagement programme, there are events which tie in to four managed areas of the borough (Greenwich and Charlton; Eltham and Kidbrooke; Plumstead, Abbey Wood and Thamesmead; Woolwich. Each area has one winter and at least one summer event – the Great Get Together. The arts input is managed and programmed by the arts development officer and the technical manager oversees production.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

Various officers throughout the council organise their own outdoor events (usually themed around issues or campaigns but using the arts to convey their message). They sometimes work with the technical manager for production support. These include events organised by the arts team, town centre managers, housing, health, etc.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

Greenwich has a number of key partnership events that it works with and supports in various ways, either through funding, access to the support of the technical manager, etc. These include large events such as the ‘Run to the Beat’ half marathon, Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, the annual fireworks on Blackheath with Lewisham Council – one of the largest free public displays in London – and a number of smaller festivals and events.

The technical manager works with many sporting events such as the London Marathon as well as the arts and community engagement events.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Commercial events are occasionally held in the borough’s parks and open spaces and in the streets (for example, London Marathon) but these are rarely arts-based. Commercial events are not actively encouraged and requests are judged on an individual basis. Hire fees vary greatly.

2.5 2009 events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

January

- Celebrate Woolwich – Town Centre

May

- Great Get Together – Winns Common, Plumstead
- Funday – Maryon Wilson Park
- Great Get Together – Blackheath Rugby Club – Well Hall

June

- Plumstead Make Merry – Plumstead Common
- Tudor Festival Old – Royal Naval College
- Great Get Together – Royal Arsenal Barracks
- Greenwich and Docklands International Festival – Greenwich Town Centre (four days)
- Greenwich and Docklands International Festival – Woolwich Town Centre (one day)
- Greenwich and Docklands International Festival – Greenwich Peninsula (one day)
- Great Get Together – Charlton Park
- Horn Fayre – Charlton House
- Asian Mela – Plumstead Common

July

- Summer Fayre – Well Hall Pleasaunce
- Trust Thamesmead Festival
- Great Get Together – Birchmere Park
- Greenwich Film Festival including outdoor film events in Well Hall Pleasaunce and Maryon Park and other places where films made/connected to Greenwich

September

- Sega Festival (Mauritian community event)
- Greenwich Comedy Festival Greenwich – Old Royal Naval College grounds

October

- Black History Month

November

- Blackheath fireworks
- Eltham Lights Up – Eltham town centre
- Eltham Christmas Community Event
- Greenwich Lights Up – Greenwich town centre

December

- Charlton Christmas Cracker – Charlton House
- Woolwich Winter Warmer – Woolwich town centre
- annual circus – Blackheath

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

There is a community engagement strategy, which includes the provision of community events in the four areas of the borough. The community engagement team works with a strategic members group that decides on the focus of the borough’s events programme and sets the parameters.

The community engagement team works closely with the arts development officer to programme the artistic content of these events.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefit cited was community engagement and cohesion with events bringing members of a diverse community together.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

There are a number of very good parks and green spaces in the borough, some council-owned, some independent. Greenwich has a diverse and creative community who support the borough’s programme.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Information not available.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The local authority would like to have an up-to-date event toolkit for the use of community event organisers in the borough.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

No income-generation targets, etc, or charges for park hires. Council event organisers are not charged for use of the parks. Community and voluntary event organisers are not charged for use of the parks if it is a public, open, free event. Large events such as ‘Run to the Beat’, fairgrounds and commercial events are charged.

All event organisers are liable for any damage to the parks and are charged for any remedial works required. Organisations may be required to make a deposit to cover this.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is no centrally held budget for council organised events but various directorates have their own budgets and often work in partnership, occasionally sharing costs with other directorates or external organisations, such as regeneration agencies/shopping centres. The community engagement team pays for most of the large community-focused events.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Changes in process mean that information is not currently available.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

There is no specific officer to fundraise for events, though officers do fundraise where possible.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

No specific advocates were identified, though the council has a history of valuing and supporting outdoor arts events and the community engagement team is responsible for consulting with members.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

None.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

None available at present. There was a ‘millennium toolkit’, but this is now out of date.

5.4 Equipment resources

The council technical officer can advise groups on where to get marquees, toilets and other infrastructure. For the larger events he/she can occasionally book on behalf of the community groups, thereby accessing cheaper costs.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Event organisers booking the borough’s parks can obtain blank site maps from the planning department. The technical manager is responsible for the site plans for all council-organised events.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

The council website has:

- a list of all the parks for hire with descriptions and features
- a simple online application form for park hire
- basic information on licensing for events

6.2 First points of contact

Possible first points of contact are the arts development officer, the parks officer, licensing, or, if organisers are internal, they may go direct to the technical manager. Most people are inclined to contact parks first so they can book the space and may do this via the internet. All applications go to a parks officer.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

A very simple application form – one side of A4 – asking contact details, name of event, type of event and a very brief description.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Those hiring parks must notify the technical manager of all their technical needs, and provide a site plan four weeks before their event.

6.5 Once an application is received

The parks officer processes applications for simple/small events that do not require any infrastructure or licences. (For instance, small events put on by the parks users groups as part of ‘Park Fest’). All applications that require infrastructure or licensing are passed to the technical manager who will then send applicants the relevant licence application pack and a list of 10 people who must be sent a copy of the licence application. If the event needs a straightforward temporary event notice (TEN) and there are no objections, the TEN is issued by licensing and the technical manager issues a park hire contract, which has a number of conditions related to site and event management: for example, structures, marshals, noise, live animals, food stalls, waste clearance, etc.

Applicants for small events will thereafter mostly be required to liaise directly with environmental health, traffic management, health and safety officers, etc. For larger or more complex events, applications will go to the events licensing safety advisory group, which is administered by the technical manager.

Where this happens, the technical manager liaises between the event organiser and the various council departments and to a limited extent the other bodies such as the police, fire service and ambulance service. Should there be any serious concerns raised by the safety advisory group or any public objections to applications these are taken to the licensing panel/board.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Apart from the conditions that go with the park hire contract, and the information in the licence application pack, there are no set guidelines, advice or support available to event organisers. However, on an ad hoc basis, it is clear that community groups as well as council organisers do frequently call on the expertise of the technical manager, (who has been in post for some time and is therefore a well-known ‘resource’).

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Larger events may be able to take advantage of the recently established premises licences that the council has acquired for three of its outdoor spaces (General Gordon Square in Woolwich, for the screen that has been erected and where the BBC wishes to hold BT-sponsored events in the lead up to the Olympics; Winn Common, and Plumstead Common, where the licences will cover three events per year.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The safety advisory group meets regularly and ensures that those involved in the practical elements of event organisation are in close contact. There is close liaison between the arts development manager, technical officer, community engagement and parks, despite all involved being situated in different directorates.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Communications and community engagement are the same department in Greenwich, which means there is a very joined-up approach to marketing both council and community events, as well as events hosted and organised independently of the council. The calendar of events in Greenwich is therefore very accessible to the residents and tourists alike, particularly via the website.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Information not currently available.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Greenwich works with a number of external providers of arts events, with each relationship being individual. For the Thamesmead Trust community festival, for example, Greenwich ‘hires out’ its technical manager, who then takes on the management of health and safety, production and the site management. For the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, Greenwich makes a financial contribution and promotes via its website, but has no direct organisational input.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

For large outdoor events in Greenwich the police supply a ‘statement of intent’ which they sign up to in advance. This sets out what they will and will not do, who is responsible for what, and includes an agreed decision-making process. Hackney is an inner London borough with a population of over 209,656, comprising an area of 1,898 hectares. It has the largest expanse of green spaces of all the inner London boroughs, with 62 parks, gardens and open spaces. Nine parks managed by the local authority have Green Flag Award status.

There are also two independent parks that have the Green Flag Award: East Reservoir Community Garden, managed by the London Wildlife Trust, and Hackney Community Tree Nursery and Edible Forest Garden, managed by the Hackney Marsh User Group.

1 Staffing

There is currently an events coordinator and a temporary event assistant in the parks and open spaces team in the community service directorate. Both of these are recently created posts. These officers deal with all third-party applications, (approximately 80–100 per year). There is strong evidence that the number of applications will increase each year preceding the 2012 Olympics. A sports booking officer is employed in the parks department to administer all sports bookings.

The head of museum and culture manages three cultural programme officers: two full-time with the other working three to four days a week. This team is supported by a full-time administrator and the local authority currently employs a freelancer to help deliver the youth arts programme, Discover Young Hackney.

The 2012 Unit employs a full-time cultural officer who is responsible for the Hackney One Carnival, one of council’s 24 core Olympic and Paralympic projects. The 2012 Unit presents a limited amount of sporting events in parks throughout the year; once again this is set to increase in the lead up to 2012.

London Borough of Hackney also employs a corporate events manager, who oversees all internal council events within indoor venues. A town centre coordinator sits within the directorate of neighbourhoods and regeneration and coordinates a number of events in more urban outdoor spaces each year.

2 Outdoor event programme/activity

London Borough of Hackney hosts approximately 100 events in its parks and open spaces each year. This is a mix of community-led events, council-facilitated events and third-party events. The programme is being built up each year and the current development of a strategy for events in green spaces is helping to build the cultural offer in Hackney.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the London Borough of Hackney

The main event organised by the council is the Hackney One Carnival. The production element of this event has been contracted out to an external events company, with the contract being managed by the borough’s 2012 unit in the past year together with the cultural development team. The green spaces events team works closely with a range of organisations to facilitate a cultural programme in parks throughout the year. Strong cooperation with the council’s cultural development team has lead to a number of successful events in interesting and challenging locations.

The parks events team is presenting a programme of events in 2010 based around health and well-being. The programme is being branded, ‘Parks for Life’ and will present a whole range of activities, programmes and events on the three key themes: physical activity, healthy eating and emotional well-being. Three of these events will be core council events, that is, the events will be designed and managed by the parks events team. The assistant role has just been extended allowing for capacity to deliver this programme. The parks events team will be managing these events from design through to event production, delivery and evaluation.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

There are a small number of events organised by other parts of the council but these mostly do not have an arts content.

2.3 Outdoor events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups and town centre coordinator for Hackney

The list at 2.5 is some of the events staged in 2009 in Hackney’s open spaces.

2.4 Commercial events

When the new events coordinator position was created in early 2009, a benchmarking exercise was carried out to completely revise the hire fees for parks in relation to events. The new fee structure also created categories for commercial and corporate hires, which had previously not existed. The number of events in this category has increased due to a proactive approach and a desire to deliver excellence in customer service. Income has increased significantly.

2.5 Events programme (snapshot of arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

Outdoor events marketed jointly as Hackney’s summer programme (along with indoor events):

- Rooted in the Earth: Joshua Sofaer
- Dancing in the Square – Gillett Square, Dalston (funded by Barbican BITE and Gillett Squared)
- EXY2T at Dalston Mill in conjunction with the Barbican and LBH (in situ for 3 weeks) part of the five host borough CREATE Festival
- Shoreditch Festival run by the Shoreditch Trust
- Wet Sounds at Clissold Pool
- Fete for the Wicked Hackney Wick – launch of Hackney Wicked Festival
- Cabin/et Hackney Road Recreation Ground
- Gillett Square Games Days
- Hackney One Carnival – Hackney Downs Park

Other events:

- 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch Now Music Festival in Shoreditch Park
- Daymer Festival – a week-long festival run by the Turkish community
- May Festival – Well Street Common
- National Youth Theatre – Fast Burn Rehearsals – amphitheatre in Shoreditch Park
- Open Air Open Studios – artist-led workshops event in Clissold Park
- SNUG Annual Picnic – community event on Stoke Newington Common
- StarLit Children’s Literature Festival in Hoxton Square (a week of events)
- Just Dance Auditions – a series of events in Shoreditch Park
- Christmas Market – Clissold Park

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The existing parks and open spaces strategy states that the development of an events policy will ensure that a range of opportunities will be offered to local community event organisers and larger event promoters. The events coordinator is currently drawing up an events strategy and is revising the existing events policy.

The activities and events objectives included in the parks and open spaces strategy are:

- to ensure that events held in Hackney parks contribute to community objectives and the Cultural Olympiad
- to provide opportunities for people to participate in events and activities in parks
- to increase awareness of parks in Hackney
- to contribute to community cohesion
- to increase the range of people using Hackney’s parks
- to ensure equality of access for all
- to ensure organisational communication is improved to maximise cooperative opportunities
- to ensure parks are used by a greater diversity of people for health and well-being activity

Hackney’s cultural framework has four main strands: • inclusion and participation in the arts • sense of place • developing a sustainable infrastructure for the cultural sector • developing and encouraging creativity

Sustainable community strategy (community cohesion):

Our vision for a sustainable Hackney in 2018: An aspirational, working borough, a vibrant part of this world city, renowned for its innovative and creative economy; a place that values the diversity of its neighbourhoods, and makes the most of their links across the globe to enrich the economic and social life of everyone who lives in the borough; a borough with greater opportunity and prosperity for everyone, whatever their background, and narrowing economic, environmental and health inequality. We will have secured the benefits arising from hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games; a green, cosmopolitan part of London with safe, strong and cohesive communities, and a shared sense of fairness, citizenship, and social responsibility.

Being published shortly and in partnership with Hackney and City Primary Care Trust Making Hackney a great place to grow old Achieving a healthy weight for all in Hackney and the City 2010–18

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor events and activity

Hackney acknowledges the many benefits that a well-designed events programme can bring to the wider community. Social cohesion and a sense of place can be achieved by events in open spaces, which have community involvement and participation at their core.

While events have the potential to cause difficulties within the borough, the processes and procedures which are now in place are minimising the risk of events causing issues within the community. The Hackney events advisory team’s committee is the single most important process to ensuring the risks to the community are kept to an absolute minimum.

The three main culturally linked benefits of events identified by officers were:

• encouraging young people to access the parks and open spaces • creating a sense of place for Hackney and its communities • promoting a vibrant cultural sector

Hackney is part of CREATE – a cultural partnership of the five Olympic and Paralympic host boroughs that is run by the five host boroughs unit; Hackney is the lead of the five boroughs for culture. Research such as the CREATE 09 report also demonstrates economic benefits. CREATE Festival events across the five Olympic host boroughs (Waltham Forest, Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich) shows a spend per head of around £16 in the local economy.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Positive impacts, but costs can be high, particularly when security is required. Can lead to complaints from local residents.

There are a number of large and beautiful venues for outdoor events. The borough’s parks are being linked into the Olympic site via green corridors. A close working relationship is being established between the events officers and the cultural officers of the five host boroughs and the results of this partnership approach are already making positive changes. There is considerable development of the facilities in the borough’s open spaces in the lead up to the Olympics.

Due to local gang culture, certain venues have a particularly negative image, often more in perception than actuality. The council is working with the police and community groups to gradually change this perception and events have a significant part to play within this work. Programming is carefully considered and when relevant the police share information regarding potential issues.

Hackney is one of the greenest inner London boroughs, although the open spaces are not evenly spread and some central wards have no parks.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Most events are run by external bodies, not the council and there is no formal comprehensive monitoring or evaluation of these events or of their impact on local communities. Monitoring of council-run events takes place where required, particularly when there are specific targets set by either internal or external funders. Where cultural services has funded externally delivered events from its budget, these events are monitored and the contract with the external supplier contains milestones and outcomes which are measured and recorded.

All events that will be part of the ‘Parks for Life’ programme will be monitored and evaluated to ascertain the success of the programme. Generic social outcomes (from the MLA sector) are under consideration across the council as a way of measuring qualitative outcomes.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

A complete revision of the following is almost complete and it is hoped this will make the event application process more accessible and user-friendly as well as improve the quality of events being presented in the borough:

- event application forms and guidance notes
- terms and conditions
- template event management plan for community event organisers
- events policy
- standard evaluation template for internal and external use
- events strategy
- continue to work more cooperatively across council to increase the cultural offer in parks and open spaces
- improve the marketing and promotion of the annual programme of events
- produce an annual events calendar
- ‘Parks for Life’ programme to establish a sustainable programme that improves the general health and well-being for the residents of Hackney

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

The parks events team has an income target of £30,000 in 2009/10 and this is anticipated to be reached. This is double what was achieved in the previous year. Forecasts for 2010/11 are anticipated to be greater again and is directly related to the new fees and charges, a more proactive approach to marketing the borough’s open spaces, and the increase in interest in east London in the lead-up the Olympics.

There are nine different hire categories: community, charity, funfairs, circuses, commercial, corporate, private hire, park users and public art installations and performance. Income in 2009/10 was used to fund an assistant events coordinator position, it is hoped in the future that income will be reinvested back into developing and seed funding community and cultural events. Park user groups are not charged for use of the parks.

A bond may be required from those who book the parks for events in case of damage, but this is at the discretion of the events coordinator and depends on the size and nature of the event.

Further park charges may be incurred for water, electricity, waste clearance, skips, PRS fees etc.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is no centrally held budget for council organised events. The events staff are looking to raise funds through commercial hire of their parks. However it is essential that a careful balance is met between commercial use, community use and the park being free of events for the best part of a year for use by local residents. Hackney One Carnival was funded 65 per cent by the council, with the remainder of the money as a grant from by Arts Council England.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

The cultural development team budget comes from reserves. In 2009/10 this was roughly £100,000 for supporting cultural infrastructure of the borough. The cultural development team does not grant fund but makes strategic commissions that fulfil the aims of the cultural framework.

There are also some grants available from Hackney Community Voluntary Services, which is part of ‘Team Hackney’ – a strategic community partnership. Most events are expected to self fund and advice is given on potential funding sources and how to complete forms by the cultural development team. 4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The events team is looking at ways to fundraise for a programme of events. There is no major sponsorship of events at present.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

There is broad support for developing further the cultural offer in parks and open spaces. The joined-up approach by a number of council departments ensures that the programme, and its quality, is growing each year. Hackney is such a rich borough in artistic resources and talent that the role of facilitation is perhaps easier than some other areas of London.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Event training for community groups has been run previously in Hackney and is being looked at again. Discussions are underway between the cultural development team and the events team on developing some workshops for community groups to increase skills and capacity.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

There is a 2005 Hackney park toolkit available on the council website. Officers are aware that this needs to be updated. The revised event guidance notes are due to go live in the first quarter of 2010. There is basic information on the website regarding the borough’s larger parks.

The events area of the website is to be completely reviewed as it is not as user-friendly as it could be. The revised events area of the website is also due to go live in the first quarter of 2010.

5.4 Equipment resources

The council does not have any significant event equipment resources.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Maps of all parks and open spaces are available on request, as event organisers are required to submit site plans this is essential. For larger event organisers CAD files can be supplied.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

An application to hire parks and open spaces is available online along with the terms and conditions for hosting events. Revised event guidance notes, template risk-assessments and community event plans will all be available for download early in 2010.

6.2 First points of contact

All event application for parks and open spaces are dealt with by the events coordinator or the assistant coordinator.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

A completed five-page application form is required. Other documents requested are:

- signed terms and conditions of hire
- a site plan and/or a route plan
- copy of public liability insurance (minimum £5m)
- first draft risk-assessment

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

There is no set deadline for applications, but it is required that small events are usually required to submit all necessary paperwork at least 28 days in advance of the event. For larger or more complex events, the organisers are invited to attend a Hackney event advisory team meeting, and the lead-in time will be longer, but there is no fixed timeline.

In practice, however, the events team sometimes has to process applications for events at very short notice (as little as two weeks before an event is due to take place). This is particularly the case for community events organised by park user groups. This more rapid processing is undertaken to ensure that the community gains maximum benefit from the parks and that events are not excessively hampered by the paperwork, particularly when the group undertaking the hire may not have English as a first language. Revision of the current events policy and event guidelines will address minimum lead times for event applications. 6.5 Once an application is received

The events officer will send an advice note, inviting any comments, to all internal stakeholders (for example licensing, culture, parks, environmental health, health and safety, communications), and to the ward councillors and to the parks user group. Also, where relevant, notice will be given to the borough’s safer communities team and to the safer neighbourhoods police team. The events officer will then assess whether it is necessary for the event organisers to attend a Hackney event advisory team meeting.

When this decision is made, assuming the venue is available, a provisional approval letter is sent to the organiser detailing what further requirements they need to meet. Where appropriate they will also receive with this an environmental health questionnaire for caterers, an event method statement template (for small events not requiring a full event management plan), and a risk-assessment template.

The event is entered on the corporate event calendar. The event organisers are required to contact licensing and building control. The core Hackney event advice team consists of events, licensing, pollution, commercial waste, traffic management, police events planning, health and safety, emergency planning, the fire brigade station officer and the ambulance service. Other officers who may attend meetings where needed are trading standards, insurance, cultural development, community safety, parking control, green spaces manager and building control.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The events team offer as much help as they are able in supporting groups to work through the application process. This approach is embodied in the council’s corporate customer service policy.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Currently Hackney has eight parks with overarching premises licenses, although none have alcohol licences and there is currently no intention to change this as it helps in the management of disruptive behaviour in public spaces. This information will be on the web once the revised website is live.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There are good internal communications between parts of the council and the recently established Hackney event advisory team is a considerable asset towards providing a seamless service.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The council’s communications team is responsible for managing all press and publicity. There is a programme of summer events in Hackney that includes events championed by cultural services division. The borough also uses its own fortnightly Hackney Today newspaper to promote its events and those of key partners. Organisers of non-council events can enter their event on the Hackney ‘What’s On’ pages, free of charge. They can also advertise in Hackney Today, although there is a charge for this.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The events officers are members of London Events Forum and are optimistic that this organisation will facilitate good partnership working across London. There is cross-borough working in CREATE, the five-borough partnership linked to the Olympics.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

There are good working relations being established with the community organisations who access the borough’s parks and green spaces for events. The borough is also working to increase its relationships with organisers of commercial events.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The application to hire a park or open space in Hackney gives clear information about how the application will be processed, what the next stages are and what further requirements are likely to be made of the event organisers. London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Outdoor arts events and activity

Hammersmith and Fulham is an inner London borough with a population of over 176,800 in 1,640 hectares. It has 53 parks and open spaces, of which 34 are parks.

Three parks managed by the local authority have the Green Flag Award: Frank Banfield, Margravine Cemetery and Ravenscourt Park.

1 Staffing

Established in April 2007, the arts, events and registration service is located within the parks and culture division of the residents’ services department. The events team includes a business development manager, who manages the team, which consists of two event managers who deal with all park and Hammersmith and Fulham Town Hall venue hires and manage internal catering, with support from two assistant event managers, an event officer and a team assistant. There is no specific arts officer.

The events team deals with all third-party applications, supports commercial and community organisers and organises a number of council-led events, both indoor (mostly civic) and outdoor events in borough parks and open spaces.

A facilities management review is in process to address internal hires for meetings.

2 Outdoor event programme/activity

Hammersmith and Fulham promote an outdoor event programme and has a number of public and private, free and paying arts events held in its parks and open spaces. There are two programmes of events published – spring/summer and autumn/winter, which include both indoor and outdoor events.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

The events team directly organised 15 events in 2009 and 12 of these were outdoor events.

2.2 Outdoor events organised by other parts of the council

Along with the events team, the borough’s town centre managers and sports team officers organise outdoor council events.

Fulham Palace and Museum comes under the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham’s parks and culture division, but the venue and its events programme are run independently of the events team.

2.3 Outdoor events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups and town centres

The town centre managers organise their own programmes of free outdoor events in Fulham, Shepherds Bush and Lyric Square. Other externally organised events include Opera in the Park and Shakespeare in the Square.

Community groups and ‘friends of parks’ are encouraged to organise their own outdoor events and the estates teams have active events programmes although the arts content of these can be minimal and the events team is aware of the need to build the capacity and knowledge of these non-professional organisers in order to raise standards.

2.4 Commercial arts events

The events team hosts a range of outdoor commercial events (sporting, arts and other, for example, fairs, private weddings) but has to be sensitive to residents and their needs.

There are three major football stadiums, Chelsea, Fulham, and Queens Park Rangers in close proximity to the parks. As Earls Court and Olympia along with HMV Hammersmith Apollo and O2 Shepherds Bush Empire are within the borough boundaries, there are already many commercial events that attract large audiences.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Spring Into
- Japanese Festival (in partnership with the Japanese Society): this was a pilot project in 2009 leading to the centenary of the Anglo-Japanese Exhibition in 2010
- Play Day
- Fulham Festival
- Autumn Days
- two fireworks displays in Ravenscourt and Bishop’s Parks
- Cultural Triathlon (as part of 2012 Open Weekend)
- the Boat Race (which goes across four boroughs) has a street arts element
- Celebrate Fulham
- Dance Umbrella on Parsons Green
- library open events
- Lyric Summer Party
- Street Piano
- Polo in the Park
- Open Air Theatre at Fulham Palace
- Fulham Christmas lights
- Greenfest
- Big Lunch
- opera in Ravenscourt Park
- Shakespeare in the Square
- Ceroc
- London Vintage Fashion Fair
- Ceilidh club
- Medium Rare – potential arts event in Ravenscourt Park

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

Hammersmith and Fulham’s event strategy (published September 2009) provides the strategic direction for events in the borough.

Extracts from the executive summary include:

Vision

The vision and strategic priorities for events in Hammersmith and Fulham have been developed in consultation with internal and external stakeholders: To develop and deliver an events programme that creates a lively and vibrant place to live, work and visit, while ensuring the sustainable use of the borough’s venues.

Strategic priorities

Following consultation with stakeholders and in conjunction with national, regional and local policy drivers, the following strategic priorities have been identified:

Priority 1: celebrate Hammersmith and Fulham and engage its residents through diverse events Priority 2: facilitate neighbourhood events and the animation of local open spaces Priority 3: ensure the sustainable use of Hammersmith and Fulham’s parks, open spaces and indoor venues for events.

Action plan

Some of the actions that will deliver the priorities are:

- conduct an annual review of events based on informal and formal feedback and neighbourhood consultations
- establish the Hammersmith and Fulham events advisory group to oversee and review large events
- put in place a policy and selection criteria for hiring out borough venues for events
- improve and extend the use of council media and other communication channels, including digital, to promote borough events and venues
- signpost to guidelines and standardised procedures for local residents wanting to run successful events
- ensure that where appropriate events are discussed with friends groups and residents associations

Implementing the events strategy

Some of this work has already commenced. This includes:

- a diverse events programme is in place.
- feedback from attenders and artists/contractors at events is collected and analysed and used to inform future event planning • a good working relationship is in place with Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre to promote volunteering opportunities at borough events • consultation meetings have taken place with stakeholders of Bishop’s Park and Ravenscourt Park, Hurlingham Park District Residents’ Association, St Peter’s Square Residents Association and the Peterborough Road and Area Residents’ Association.

The parks and open spaces strategy produced in 2008 differs from other boroughs in that it incorporates a strategy for private as well as public open spaces. The strategy acknowledges that the value of open spaces is steadily increasing as London becomes more crowded.

One of the priorities is to enable more organised entertainment and community events and the borough aims to achieve this through developing facilities (for example, bandstands) and by developing policy and advice for community event organisations.

There is an arts strategy, which runs to 2010.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefits are increased access to the parks, promoting healthy lifestyles and supporting community cohesion in a diverse and constantly changing borough.

The problems relate mostly to the perception of large events held in the borough in venues and the inconvenience this can present to residents in terms of impact on spaces, limited access, increased traffic and noise.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

The borough has begun a programme of park refurbishments and improvements and has a core group of outdoor venues that are accessible, licensed and well spread through the borough.

Transport links in the borough are excellent. A large part of the borough boundary runs along the Thames and this is being developed as a recreational resource.

Shepherds Bush Green has plans for refurbishment.

The borough has a number of excellent arts and theatre venues (such as the Lyric Theatre, Riverside Studios, Bush Theatre, Bush Hall, The Bhavan Centre, Irish Cultural Centre and The Centre for Polish Art and Culture), which often feed into the outdoor arts events programme.

There is awareness of the need to strike a balance between conflicting commercial and community uses of open spaces.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Audience feedback surveys are carried out at all events. Volunteers are used to getting audience feedback at events but often there is a limited number of personnel available. This needs to be increased and community organisers need incentives to organise their own monitoring and evaluation processes.

Feedback forms are shortly to go online so that stakeholders will be able to make their views on individual events known. The officers also meet residents and stakeholder groups twice yearly at Ravenscourt and Bishops Park in order to obtain feedback about the borough parks’ premises licences.

Further consultation is carried out through parks’ ‘friends groups’ and event specific consultation for example, Polo event. Part of the event officer’s remit is to bring the arts into the borough’s events, including community events, but there is at present no formal system for monitoring the arts content at events.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The events team is keen to develop more partnership working, particularly as it does not have a dedicated arts officer or budget for outdoor arts events. The team is keen to have a toolkit that will assist event organisers in the borough and help raise standards of good event management practice across the community events. The team plans to have more comprehensive information about individual parks and event organisation on the website. 4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

The events team has a significant annual income target in 2009/10 but it is not anticipated that this will be reached. The team has set prices for commercial hires but as the status of each event hire is individually assessed depending on the site, infrastructure and intended audience. The four basic categories are for commercial, private, charity and community rates. There is an administration charge of £120 and mostly this is all the community groups will pay.

For example, a three-day polo event in Hurlingham Park involved intense resident liaison and consultation with monthly meetings and a regular residents’ newsletter. In order to further engage local residents with this paid event, the council and the organisers worked closely with schools and there was a free family fun day for the community held on the Sunday of the event, which was negotiated as part of the contract. The polo event also used the Wimbledon-style system of ballot for access to tickets. The event was a pilot project in 2009 and Hammersmith and Fulham has contracted with the organiser for the event to take place in 2010-2012. Many local residents now support the event and take pride in the fact that it is held in their neighbourhood.

There are five parks and open spaces with premises licences and further licences may be applied for if needed.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is a limited budget for council-organised events, although events like Play Day and Christmas Day lunch have a small core budget to cover infrastructure costs. The events staff are looking to raise funds through income-generating activities and sponsorship.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

The events team does not have a budget to support community events but organisers are encouraged to apply to the fast track small grants fund, which is in a separate directorate.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The events staff are looking at ways to fundraise but there is minimal sponsorship of events at present. The events team aims to develop sponsorship packages for some of their events.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The council’s cabinet member for culture and heritage and cabinet member for residents’ services along with ward councillors are consulted and involved with events. The events strategy was a cabinet decision.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

There are currently no event-related training schemes or seminars.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

There are some existing community guidelines available but they are in the process of being reviewed together with an events toolkit. The council’s environment department have produced guidance for event organisers and traders. The events team also provides one to one support to event organisers.

5.4 Equipment resources

The council has some event equipment resources – for example, a small PA system and a few small outdoor pop-up structures that are used for Hammersmith and Fulham-managed events.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Maps of key parks and open spaces are available on the website.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

Applicants need to contact the events team to get an enquiry form.

6.2 First points of contact

All event enquiries and applications for parks and open spaces are directed by the call centre to the events team. Organisers do sometimes however go direct to licensing for a temporary event notice and are redirected to the events team.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

Event organisers are asked to fill in an initial enquiry form providing details about the proposed event activity.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

There is a 21-day guideline for small community event applications and minimum of six weeks for large commercial events; however the events team will consider late event applications on a case by case basis.

6.5 Once an application is received

The event manager and/or assistants process the form and liaise with the organisers to get further information (such as an event plan, risk-assessment and insurance details), and once equipped with the required information, can inform the event organiser of costs based on the application details.

Depending on the size and nature of the event, when necessary, internal consultation is carried out via council colleagues in parks, parks constabulary, environmental health, licensing and highways who are members of an event advisory group. For larger events, police, fire and ambulance services are consulted and once the internal consultation is carried out, if appropriate the events team may consult further with stakeholder groups and residents.

The events team work closely with parks constabulary who have a combined police/community warden role. One inspector, three sergeants and 20 police constables cover the parks in shifts from dawn to dusk.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The business development manager, event manager and assistants are available to offer one to one advice and support and a dedicated project officer is allocated to the event application. An initial site visit is arranged with the event organiser, accompanied by additional relevant council officers if required.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are four local authority parks that have premises licences:

- Bishops Park
- Ravenscourt Park
- Furnivall Gardens
- Normand Park

Lyric Square also has a premises licence.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There is good communication with other council departments and there is a desire to continue to develop the close joint working to ensure a smooth internal operations and an efficient customer experience for event organisers.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The council communications team is responsible for all aspects of corporate press and publicity but the events team is responsible for developing event specific marketing plans. The events team and communications team have monthly planning meetings. The council’s fortnightly newspaper, Hammersmith and Fulham News (distribution 84,000) provides event-related editorial free of charge; however advertisements do incur a charge.

The communications team has in-house designers who adhere to corporate guidelines when creating event-specific promotional material. The events team uses a wide distribution list of borough organisations to promote events via print and media, posters, banners and e-shots. There are two event programmes produced annually, which include outdoor arts events in the borough and there is a monthly events calendar on the website. The council’s event-related web pages are currently under review. The communications team liaises with members to give press and media interviews and quotations for events.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The events team belong to London Events Forum and have already reaped benefits from the networking and best practice sharing that this has facilitated. They are also due to take on responsibilities relating to the London-wide mentoring scheme for local authority events officers. They are also members of the West London Alliance and West London 2012 partnership and worked in partnership with the Western Wedge, Momentum and the SEER and are supporting Big Dance 2010.

The events team see cross-borough working as essential to meeting their residents’ needs and have regular contact with borough counterpart colleagues.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

There are good working relations established with the high-profile arts organisations and venues in the borough and with community organisations who access the borough’s parks and green spaces for events. They consider their key partners to be Hammersmith and Fulham Arts Forum, Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre, libraries, town centre managers and their local businesses.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

See references above regarding the community relations established with the commercial polo event held in Hurlingham Park. London Borough of Haringey Outdoor arts events and activity

Haringey is an outer London borough with a population of 225,700 in 2958 hectares. Venues that can be used for outdoor arts events include 60 local authority parks and green spaces as well as the independently managed Alexandra Park and Lee Valley Regional Park. Highgate Woods is managed by City of London. Eleven parks managed by the council have the Green Flag Award.

There are also a number of non-council owned venues, which occasionally stage outdoor arts events, such as Alexandra Palace and the Bernie Grant Arts Centre.

1 Staffing

There is an events and operations manager who works to the head of neighbourhood management, in the policy and partnerships, performance and communications department, under the chief executive. This officer works closely with the seven neighbourhood teams, with the key staff in the parks customer care team, and the regional manager for parks.

2 Event programme/activity

The council actively promotes all of the events in the borough’s parks and open spaces regardless of who the organisers are.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

The council mostly organises events in partnership with local communities, even if these events are initiated and part-funded by the council (Green Fair, for example).

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The events and operations manager works with a range of council departments to provide events that meet their strategic aims, and also sources funding for events from other council departments.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

The seven area assemblies have close community contacts with organisations and groups who organise their own events either in partnership or with support from the council.

There are a large number of community arts events and fun days, which include an arts element, held in the borough’s parks and open spaces. Use of the parks for community and arts events is positively encouraged.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Information varies annually.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Bernie Grant Arts Centre is new but has open spaces for events
- Bruce Castle Park – a programme of events including the Bruce Castle Carnival and Tottenham Carnival as well as a number of arts days
- Stationers Park has a programme of events
- Green Fair on Duckets Common attracting 5,000 people. Partnership working with the community
- Schools Green Fair held on the Friday on Duckets Common
- Peace Rock concert in Finsbury Park
- Hornsey Winter Lantern Festival and Carol Concert
- Car Free Day
- Haringey Green Lanes Food Festival has staged entertainment
- Downhills Park hosts a number of community initiated arts events on an ad hoc basis
- Priory Park hosts a number of fun-days that include arts activity 3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The Haringey open spaces strategy identifies festivals and events as important means of being communities together and for providing access to cultural experiences. It sets as a strategic objective, ‘to develop and promote an increased number of opportunities for people to enjoy cultural experiences and activities’. The strategy is due for review in 2010–2011. The cultural strategy is under review. There is a drive from councillors for more outdoor events in the borough.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The benefits include the income raised from park hires. Events are recognised a means of bringing communities together and creating a localised sense of identity. There are economic benefits as local traders benefit from events and in particular Haringey successfully worked in partnership with traders on the Haringey Food Festival.

Problems often relate to traffic congestion.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

The borough has some good spaces for events, including Finsbury Park, where 20 of the 115 acres are designated as an event area. (For paid events a steel shield is erected). There are good transport links from central London.

Many events have good involvement from the friends groups who have representatives on the festivals and events committees. This engagement with the local community means there is more cooperation and less complaints. The friends group of Finsbury Park, however, is opposed to all big concerts on the basis of increased noise and the potential for increased litter.

Some events are required to be organised at very short notice (for example, less than the recommended lead-in times)

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

The parks officers do site visits but this is more for monitoring of practical issues.

Festivals which are funded through the ‘Making A Difference’ grants have evaluation forms to complete.

The events and operations manager arranges debriefs and evaluations of the larger events, especially where they have been organised in partnership with the community. The debriefs are considered an essential part of event development.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The borough is working towards an increased programme of outdoor events, although the existing staff are already quite overstretched.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

Not currently known if there are income targets for parks and open spaces and where the income goes. Rates cards are available from the parks customer care team.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is no central outdoor events budget but the principal events and operations manager works with a selection of partners in council departments and through them accesses funding for the council events. Where the council is working with community groups to manage events, the latter are eligible to apply to the ‘Making A Difference’ fund (see 4.3)

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Each of the seven area assemblies in the borough have £50,000 of council funds that they can spend as they choose. Note: this is subject to a voting system by the residents in the affected area and funds are ‘making the difference’ funds These funds are mostly used for community events and street festivals, at the request of local communities.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Community festivals often arrange their own fundraising and sponsorship, but the principal events and operations manager often helps events access funds from a range of council departments. 5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

No specific advocates are identified, but councillors as a whole in Haringey are keen for more outdoor arts events to take place.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

There is no training currently available for community event organisers.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The Haringey website has quite detailed information on the 11 parks that have been awarded the Green Flag and it also suggests what sort of events might work in the different parks.

The website has online information regarding booking parks and organising events. Applicants are pointed in one of either two directions depending on the size of the event. Organisers of events or performances with audiences up to 100 people are directed to the small events guidelines which can be downloaded. These give basic information, contacts for licensing and set out the process for applying.

Organisers of larger events are directed to the downloadable event guide. This has details of the main parks, explains Haringey’s approach to events and refers to its strategic objective in relation to open spaces, ‘to develop and promote an increased range of opportunities for people to enjoy cultural experiences’. It explains the process for booking a park for an event, gives the assessment criteria that will be used and details all the documentation that will be required. Applicants for events are requested to contact the parks customer care service to talk to an officer and to get an application pack.

5.4 Equipment resources

There is no equipment hire service available.

5.5 Maps and site plans

The Haringey website has a new service where anyone can access maps of any part of the borough including maps of the parks.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

See 5.3.

6.2 First points of contact

The parks customer care team is suggested as the first point of contact. For organisers who have already worked on events in the borough, they may go direct to the events and operations manager in the first instance. At any point in the event application process the events and operations manager is available to offer advice and guidance and if necessary to meet community event organisers and support them through the processes, from form filling to risk-assessments and drawing up the event management plan.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

Organisers of small events for up to 100 people are required to submit an application, an outline event management plan, a signed copy of the park hire terms and conditions and a completed event safety checklist.

Organisers of events for over 100 people are required to send in a brief description of the event, which park they want to use, dates, details of expected audience numbers and how they will market the event plus details of what structures they will use.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

For large events there should be 12 weeks between time of enquiry and the event. For small events it is six weeks.

A minimum of six weeks is needed for events requiring a premises licence and three weeks for events needing a temporary event notice. For big concerts in Finsbury park there is 16-week timescale.

6.5 Once an application is received

Once an application for a small event is received it is assessed by parks and if approved the event organisers are then required to complete and return an indemnity form, give the event coordinator’s details, send a developed event-management plan and risk-assessment, site plan, evidence of public liability insurance, and the required fee with a deposit, if any is requested. There will then be a meeting at least three weeks before the event between the organiser of the event and a parks representative. Parks will meet the organiser on site after the event to check the park grounds and have an informal debrief.

For events involving over 100 people, once the brief description is received, parks will advise the organiser whether the council is are happy to proceed and if so it sends an application pack.

The application pack includes an application form, the events guide, an event process guide, an event-management plan guide, a fees and charges card, a safety checklist, the terms and conditions and a request for evidence of public liability insurance.

The event organisers and parks need to meet at least three weeks before the event and for larger events representatives of the police, fire service, environmental health, traffic management, etc, will be invited according to need.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The event and operations manager is available at any stage of the process to offer guidance and advice and can help with risk-assessments, the event management plan and form filling as required. Specialist officers (from food safety for example) are also available to offer advice and guidance. The events guide includes advice and contacts for health and safety, licensing and food safety.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Finsbury Park is the only park with a premises licence, including alcohol. In addition to funfairs it can host five large concerts per year, but in 2009 there were none. This is partly due to the fact that Mean Fiddler is no longer involved in the venue, but the council currently has a lot of interest from other promoters.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There are strong interdepartmental communications and a number of events are organised and funded in partnership by different parts of the council. The principal events and operations manager occasionally works with the council. The principal events and operations manager occasionally works with the council. The principal events and operations manager occasionally works with the council.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

All publicity that carries the Haringey logo has to adhere to the corporate guidelines and is managed by the communications team. Communications support for festivals and events varies according to the communication team workload. For press interviews the communications call in either the festival promoters if is an independent event (for partnership with communities).

Email marketing and the use of social networks is not formally managed, though partner community groups may use this to promote events they are linked to.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The event and operations manager often liaises with colleagues in neighbouring boroughs, especially on practical issues like road closures and traffic implications. They also often liaise with the boroughs that border Finsbury Park for example, Islington and Hackney.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

There are close working communications and collaborations with a large number of community event organisers and committees. The fact that the events and operations manager works to the head of neighbourhood management enables excellent community links.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The guidelines available on the website for events in parks and open spaces include a list of the criteria which applications will be assessed against and the processes for putting on an event are very clear.

Haringey has some excellent examples of working with local communities on events, particularly traders. London Borough of Harrow Outdoor arts events and activity

Harrow is an outer London borough with a population of over 216,200 in 5044 hectares. There are 35 local authority parks and six open spaces plus 11 green belt open spaces, 24 sports and playing fields. There are no town centres that are used for events. Three parks managed by the council have the Green Flag Award.

There are also a number of non-council owned venues that stage outdoor arts events, such as the Kodak Sports Ground (Zoom Leisure Ground) and Harrow School Fields and Farm.

1 Staffing

At present in the community and environment directorate, under libraries and cultural services, there is a service manager for Harrow Arts Centre, Harrow’s only dedicated arts facility. Harrow Arts Centre has a team of three arts staff (artistic programme manager, participation manager, and an administrator). These officers work solely on programming Harrow Arts Centre.

There are no outdoor arts events staff. The centre’s programming staff are supported by box office, business, marketing, facilities and site staff in the operation of the venue.

Officers working in the community development team, who deliver the council’s only outdoor festival, are also in the community and environment directorate, as are parks and sports (public realm), and licensing and highways (community safety). Planning sits in the ‘place-shaping’ directorate.

The grounds maintenance staff for parks report directly to the service manager for public realm, who is responsible for paving, street cleaning, lighting, and parks, among other things.

2 Event programme/activity

Harrow has no overall outdoor events programme, and limited outdoor arts activity.

2.1 Events organised by the council libraries and cultural services

The Harrow Arts Centre has a forecourt, conservation green space and is adjacent to a council-managed sports field. The centre has held open weekend events using its outdoor space. Harrow Museum is in a council-managed park and has its own enclosed field as part of its complex. It holds several outdoor fete-style events through the year, the highlight being The May Day celebration; it also plays host to a monthly farmers’ market.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

Under One Sky is the borough’s only outdoor festival, delivered by the community development team. The main aim of this festival is community cohesion and it has a mixed family and youth audience. There is no specific arts agenda but a number of arts performances and activities are integral to the festival.

The festival is held in the private Zoom Leisure Ground, which has a large number of parking spaces available and is gated, which allows for greater security and for entrance charges to be taken. Admission is £3 or £1 for children and concessions, with under-10s being admitted free of charge. The event attracts 12,000 people. The festival is not funded so needs to generate its own income through sponsorship, concessions and admission charges.

The community development team is looking to develop two or three more small community festivals in other parts of the borough.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

Roxeth Show is a free community fair that takes place over a weekend in July and includes the HA2CANDO carnival in which Harrow’s schools take part. It is managed by the Harrow and Pinner Lions and is funded through private sponsorship.

The Pinner Association manages a few annual events, some of which have an arts content. It receives no funding and has minimal contact with the council. It liaises directly with the police for the parade and any streets activity.

In addition there is a:

- pantomime evening
- St George’s Day parade and wheelbarrow race
- Summer Concerts in the Pinner Memorial Park

The Harrow Users and Residents’ Association organises a Spring Day Festival and a Kite Festival on Harrow Recreation Ground. It works in close contact with the public realm team on this.

2.4 Commercial arts events

There are no known commercial outdoor arts events in the borough.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Spring Day Festival on Harrow Recreation Ground
- St George’s Day parade
- May Day Celebration
- Under One Sky
- Open Weekend
- Kite Festival
- Summer concerts in Pinner Memorial Park
- Roxeth Festival and HA2CANDO carnival
- Pinner Pantomime Evening

(Black History Month and Disability Arts Festival, for example).

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefit cited was community cohesion.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Since the last census in 2001 the population of Harrow has changed considerably. The government grant to Harrow is based on the 2001 census but is now much less than the council actually needs. Availability of funds is therefore a significant issue in Harrow.

There is no specific parks manager or person designated to encourage events in the borough’s parks. Arts officers have only relatively recently taken on the management of the Harrow Arts Centre after its previous management company ran into problems. There is a lot of building work and development happening at the centre, which currently takes up most of the officers’ time.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Information not known.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The council would like an up-to-date event toolkit for the use of community event organisers in the borough. A procedure for applying to run events in the borough’s parks and open spaces might encourage more independent organisers to produce events.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

There are no income-generation targets set for park hires. The council and other organisations might be charged for park hires but there is not a set amount. Event organisers may be liable for any damage to the parks and may be charged for any remedial works required. Organisations may be required to make a deposit to cover this possibility.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is no centrally held budget for council-organised events and Under One Sky – the borough’s only outdoor arts event – has to cover its own costs apart from the staffing.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There is no council funding available from the arts team but it is able to advise arts organisations to apply to the community grants scheme which can make small awards and it also refers people on to a few locally active private trust funds.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

There is no member of staff tasked with fundraising or sponsorship for the arts, events or festivals.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

No specific advocates identified.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

None.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

None are available at present. The arts and events officer has on occasion provided event organisers with a copy of the plan of intent for Under One Sky as a model.

5.4 Equipment resources

None available.

5.5 Maps and site plans

The GIS team in the planning department can supply maps to event organisers at a cost, depending on requirements. NB: council departments requesting this service would also be charged. The service is not yet advertised however, so event organisers may not be aware of the facility.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

There is a spreadsheet on the website of the parks and open spaces in Harrow and their facilities.

There is guidance on licensing on the website. The community development or the arts team may be able to offer information but neither is publicised as a service offered to event organisers due to the limited capacity of these teams.

6.2 First points of contact

There is no fixed first point of contact. People may approach through public realm or through community development or may go direct to the manager of a specific venue. It is the responsibility of the event organiser to make contact with the relevant council officers.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

There is currently no formal process for hiring a park or open space in Harrow, although there are systems for booking sports pitches and facilities.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

There are no advised timelines except for the standard 10 day notice period for a temporary event notice.

6.5 Once an application is received

There is no formalised application process for using parks. Licensing applications are dealt with by the borough licensing officers.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

There is no fixed set of advice or guidelines available to event organisers although officers from the arts and community development give support and advice on an ad hoc basis.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

None of the borough’s parks or open spaces have premises licences. The outdoor spaces attached to Harrow Arts Centre and Harrow Museum are licensed for public entertainment.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

All of the council officers who have, or could have involvement with outdoor arts events (with the exception of the communications team) are in the same council directorate – community and environment. Despite this there is currently very little connectivity. A safety advisory group is pulled together for Under One Sky and this group may meet two or three times.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Corporate communications is a service that has been contracted out to the City of Westminster. Corporate communications deals with all press liaison. There is no communications officer dedicated to arts and events.

Harrow Arts Centre creates and manages its own Facebook and Twitter presence but can only produce its own publicity provided it gets approval of its copy and designs. Designs have to comply with the corporate style guidelines. Generally it has been pleased with what it has been able to produce.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Although Harrow is part of the Western Wedge [seven local authorities: Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea] and its event Under One Sky was featured in the joint marketing of outdoor events in west London, the council feels that being part of the Western Wedge is a struggle as in terms of outdoor events it is simply not in the same league as neighbouring boroughs, such as Ealing and Brent.

It was also commented that it is not typical for Harrow residents to access the outdoor festivals in neighbouring boroughs as transport links tend to be easier in and out of central London rather than across neighbouring boroughs. (One exception to this is Harrow-on-the-Hill where residents have good access to the events in Ealing).

The service manager, Harrow Arts Centre is an active member of the London Events Forum.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Harrow Arts Centre is part of the Arts Council ‘On the Map’ development programme for outer London venues, providing excellent networking and information sharing with other outer London venues.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The borough has identified that it needs to establish and publicise procedures for hiring parks.

Harrow takes part in networking meetings with colleagues from other London boroughs with regard to the National Indicator 11 (NI11) support plan. London Borough of Hillingdon Outdoor arts events and activity

Hillingdon is an outer London borough with a population of over 250,000 in 11,569 hectares, with a large part of the borough in the south occupied by Heathrow airport and a large part being green belt. It is the second largest London borough after Bromley.

Venues that can be used for outdoor arts events include over 200 local authority parks and green spaces (covering 730 hectares); Uxbridge town centre is also used for events. Fourteen parks managed by the council have Green Flag Award status.

There are also a number of non-council owned venues that stage outdoor events, such as the Hillingdon House Farm, where commercial events such as the Auto Show are held and often incorporate arts activity. Brunel University also occasionally has outdoor arts events.

1 Staffing

There is an arts and culture manager, an arts development officer, two site managers and three technicians/operations assistants who are fully involved in events.

2 Event programme/activity

Hillingdon’s events are all posted on the website, including the community-organised events.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

There are three main outdoor events produced by the arts service: Bigfest, Medfest and Hayes Carnival.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

Adult education, green spaces, sports and education also curate outdoor events.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There are a number of community ‘parties’ held in the parks, which often have an element of arts activity.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Commercial events such as fairgrounds and circuses are occasionally held in the borough’s parks and open spaces but are not specifically encouraged. Carters Steam Fair annually visits Uxbridge Common and is well supported by local residents.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Hayes Carnival
- Bigfest
- Medfest
- Middlesex Show
- Events in the grounds of Southlands Arts Centre
- Events in Hillingdon House Farm
- Carters Steam Fair on Uxbridge Common
- Christmas and other events in Uxbridge town centre
- War Heroes event at the local barracks
- Party in the Park – event for small children organised by the local Sunshine Magazine

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

There are no specific strategies or policies for outdoor arts events. There is however a drive to gain Green Flag Award status for as many spaces as possible in the borough, and part of the criteria for a Green Flag Award is that local residents have a high level of engagement with the park or open space, and that often includes participation in community events in the parks.

The cultural strategy is in development. The borough’s approach to an outdoor events programme is currently reactive rather than strategic. Saying this, the arts service events are specifically tied in with the cultural strategy.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefit cited was community engagement with green spaces. The borough has noted the positive impact on residents of the policy to seek Green Flag Award status for its parks. Hillingdon has the largest number of Green Flag Awards of any London borough.

Events can cause discontent among local residents. Residents are always consulted about new events. Proposed events that are opposed by local residents and/or park users may be turned down.

Fireworks displays, particularly where it is a fairground company who wants to organise them, have proved contentious. High standards of grounds maintenance are a priority in Hillingdon’s green spaces, so events are occasionally turned down if parks officers feel the event is inappropriate to a space or if vehicles may cause damage. This issue varies according to time of year and weather. Parks maintenance is contracted out.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- the large number of parks and open spaces – especially those with Green Flag Award status.
- support from the cabinet member and the chief executive

Disadvantages:

- parking in the borough can be difficult but is an issue the borough is looking to resolve. For example, the car park at Rockingham Recreation Ground is heavily used by commuters and visitors as a ‘park and ride’ venue for accessing central London. With the proximity of Heathrow airport, there are also issues with car parks and areas around parks being used as airport parking.
- The borough supports events wherever possible but does not have the staff to actively encourage community events.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

The number of attenders at events is monitored. Community events may have monitoring and evaluation for their own events. Licensing officers from the borough attend all events that are issued with licences and arrange a post-event debrief. For events with 3,000 people or more, this debrief feeds back to the safety advisory group.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The council would like to have a more even spread of events throughout its very large borough, with more happening in the less affluent areas.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

Hillingdon does not have a specific income-generation target from park hires. Where income is generated from park hires it may occasionally be earmarked for improvements in the park or open space used, but this is not a general policy.

Some green spaces used for commercial hire have set rates dependent on the size and duration of the event.

Community and charitable organisations and council departments are not charged for park hire if their events are free of charge.

If they are charging, a hire rate is set according to the event and what it wants to achieve. A £5,000-£20,000 bond may be required from organisers of large events.

There is a cost for traffic management orders.

The licensing cost for a temporary event notice is the standard £21 and varies for premises licences according to the event location. Services which are part of the parks contractor’s contracts (which have events included) are not charged for, so, for example, waste disposal is not charged for unless the bins overflow. Standpipes need to be brought in by the event organisers. Hillingdon House Farm and Fassnidge Bandstand have electric hook-ups and use is included in the hire fee, if there is one.

4.2 Funding for council events

Information not currently available.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Hillingdon Council website has details of funding sources including charitable trusts, local support, government funding and National Lottery funding. There is an online facility to search for suitable funding. For example, the Gannett Foundation Fund offers a Hillingdon-based grant to provide financial assistance to local and voluntary organisations for projects that benefit local residents.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Individual events seek their own sponsorship. Borough contractors, such as Connaught Environmental, occasionally pay for or supply things needed for events (whether community or council), such as staff or marquees, but this is on an ad hoc basis.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The chief executive and cabinet member are both very supportive of developing the parks and open spaces in the borough and of using events to increase access.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

There are no training schemes at present.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

There is no event toolkit. There is no obvious contact for external event organisers wishing to use a park or green space within the borough.

5.4 Equipment resources

The council does not have event equipment for community groups to borrow.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Parks or open spaces have maps available.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

See 5.3.

6.2 First points of contact

The most common first point of contact is the green spaces team administrator.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

People wishing to organise events in the borough must submit a booking application form to the green spaces administration team. The application is currently being reviewed and there is a desire for the application to be online.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

A minimum of four months’ notice for events is requested, but in reality events often get booked at much shorter notice.

6.5 Once an application is received

This varies according to the event and its location.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

This varies according to the event.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are four local authority parks and spaces in Hillingdon that have premises licences.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There are very good communications between council departments as part of the ‘one council’ drive to ensure that the borough’s departments are ‘joined up’. 7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The borough’s communications team is responsible for print and press releases for events. It manages a website that includes adding all events to the ‘what’s on’ pages, regardless of whether they are organised by the council or community groups or commercial organisations.

The parks section is also able if desired to produce or commission its own marketing materials, which it checks with communications. Whether publicity materials are produced by the communications staff or the borough event organisers depends on time constraints and target audiences.

Wherever possible, all events in Hillingdon, regardless of the organisers or funders, are included in the borough’s relevant marketing tools and put into links on the website. Hillingdon events are posted on Facebook.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The arts service works cross-borough via the Western Wedge (seven local authorities: Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea). In 2008 the Wedge was awarded over £100,000 to do a west London festival.

Green space managers have good contacts with other boroughs through the seminars arranged by the Green Flag Award scheme and through the green spaces benchmarking group to which they belong. Green space officers from Hillingdon attend the Institute of Leisure and Amenities Management (ILAM) conference, which is another means of networking.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Each of the borough’s green space managers has close working relationships with community organisations and occasionally with commercial companies who are staging events within their allocated areas. London Borough of Hounslow Outdoor arts events and activity

Hounslow is a peripheral borough in south-west London. There is a population of 222,600, 40 per cent of whom are from ethnic minorities within its 5,600 hectares.

The borough’s 120 parks and green spaces together represent one of the highest percentages of green areas of all London boroughs. It contains one of London’s largest nature reserves and part of London’s green belt.

Three parks have been awarded Green Flag Award status, including one park in partnership with Hillingdon council.

1 Staffing

John Laing Integrated Services manages the parks and open spaces in the borough. The contract is managed by the client manager for grounds maintenance, events are managed by the arts, museums and libraries client manager.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the contractor

On behalf of Hounslow John Laing Integrated Services organises: Bedfont Lake Country Fayre, fireworks displays, and Brentford Festival.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The council works in partnership with its grant-funded organisations, namely Watermans Arts Centre and Feltham Arts Association, to produce and deliver a programme of outdoor arts activity including Feltham Carnival, and specific events in streets and parks addressing the National indicator 11 target.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

The London Mela is jointly organised with Remarkable Productions and Ealing Council.

2.4 Commercial arts events

- SKY ride
- funfairs

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

See Events Listing appendix.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

Delivering events is one of the objectives in the annual service plan. There is no arts or culture strategy for the borough at present. An arts strategy will be developed in 2010, of which an events strategy will form an integral part. An emerging museums and historic houses strategy (due to be completed March 2010) will address events in these spaces. Development of a programme of events is being considered for Redlees Studios in Isleworth. A business plan is being developed for the Paul Robeson Theatre in Hounslow.

To enable community groups and charities to take advantage of the parks and outdoor spaces an aspiration is to develop a grants and support programme.

Further aspirations are the development of currently disparate programme of outdoor events into an annual arts festival for the borough, celebrating ‘Borough Pride’, raising the bar through quality programming and commissioned professional work.

In relation to 2012 Hounslow is part of the Western Wedge Arts Partnership (seven local authorities: Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) and will play an active and visible part in the ‘West London Story’. There is also an aspiration for a large public art project for 2012 along the Great West Road – London’s corridor to the games.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits: an outdoor event, free by its very nature is a highly visible statement of intent around developing quality-of-life indicators, increasing access and promoting social cohesion.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

There are none recorded.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

All the information about the proposed event is logged into a system run by John Laing. The system is called EQ24/7. All events and evaluation are managed through this system as it self-monitors. At events organised by the council monitoring is carried out through audience questionnaires, artist feedback and production de-briefs.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The council aspires to host several high-profile professional annual events throughout the year that add to the borough’s appeal as a visitor attraction.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

John Laing declined to answer.

4.2 Funding for council events

The client manager for arts, museums and libraries has a small budget to commission events and development.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Community groups are referred to external funders and grants programmes, such as Arts Council England’s Grants for the arts.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

No information available.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Friends of the parks.

5.2 Event related training/seminars for community-based organisations

John Laing has recruited a parks and development community officer to develop park educational activities to address community needs.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

An event pack is generated upon application.

5.4 Equipment resources

There are none available in the borough.

5.5 Maps and site plans

The event manager will offer support through every procedure, including supplying maps and site plans upon request.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

The website is very clear about whom to contact, with an email and phone number on the events in parks and open space page. The applicant is encouraged to apply for a resource pack.

6.2 First points of contact

The events manager at John Laing will talk through a questionnaire to register the event. The monitoring system EQ 24/7 takes detailed information about the proposed event and once logged gets sent to relevant departments, such as environment, licensing, who are based with the council.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

Only initial information about the event is required on first contact, no risk-assessments, plans, insurance details at this stage.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Six months for the initial form-filling.

6.5 Once an application is received

The events manager will give support and advice in all areas of production.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The event manager will organise site visits and offer support and guidance through any health and safety requirements.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Gunnersbury Park has a restricted licence.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

John Laing manages all initial event communication and will then communicate with relevant departments. The client manager is responsible for ensuring that the high-level strategy for event management is maintained.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Dedicated websites list a range of events in the borough as well as events diaries and newsletters.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

London Mela is delivered jointly with the London Borough of Ealing. A range of events is delivered by the council in partnership with Watermans and Feltham Arts Association.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Waterman’s Productions and Remarkable Productions manage events within the borough. Islington is an inner London borough with a population of over 190,900 in 1,485 hectares. It has 127 local authority parks, open spaces and playgrounds, including spaces next to canals and rivers. Events are also held at the town centres, including Angel, Nag’s Head, Holloway and Archway and at community centres across the borough.

Nine parks managed by the local authority have the Green Flag Award. There are also three independent parks that have the Green Pennant Award. These are Thornhill Bridge Community Gardens, which works in partnership with Islington council; Culpepper Community Garden, and King Henry’s Walk Garden, both of which are leased from Islington by the community.

1 Staffing

There are currently two events officers who work in the community and events team. They take the applications for events in the parks and also assist community groups with organising events. The team works closely with four area parks managers, who link into four political areas, working with over 50 park user groups. The area park managers work with the events officers, licensing, environmental health, communications and a range of community groups. From 2010 the festivals and events grant fund will be managed by the council’s arts officer.

2 Event programme/activity

Islington sees its events programme as including all events in the borough, parks and open spaces, regardless of who the organisers are. In addition other departments within the council organise events on their sites, town centres etc.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

- Love Parks Week – events take place in parks across the borough

See events listed on Events Listing appendix.

2.2 Outdoor events organised by other parts of the council

Outdoor events are organised by many council departments, including the cultural services department, greenspace, highways, sustainability, children’s services, the road safety team and homes for Islington. Although none of these are exclusively arts events, they all have an arts activity as part of their programme. Town centre managers also organise outdoor events.

2.3 Outdoor events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups and town centres

See events listed on Events Listing appendix.

2.4 Commercial arts events

- Finsbury Square Farmers Market

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Heatwave – a summer programme of activities for young people in the borough which includes outdoor events
- Love Parks Week
- Fireworks at Regent’s Canal
- Fireworks at Paradise Park
- Halloween in Holloway
- The Big Lunch
- Peter Bedford Housing Association Summer Fete
- The Feelgood Festival 3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The events officers are working on updating their events policy and strategy. The parks have 10 strategic priorities: events are mentioned in the service plan as a direct means of increasing use of the parks. There is a move away from the council staff organising events and towards the community taking ownership of the events.

The council has recently developed a cultural strategy, Cultural matters. This is due to be ratified by the council’s executive in February 2010. It recognises the valuable contribution that festivals and events make to the lives of local residents and recommends that the council: ‘provide a coherent approach to festivals and events within the council through a review of the current management and development arrangements’.

It is proposed that a corporate project group consisting of representatives from Greenspace, cultural services, strategic planning and regeneration and public protection be created to examine the council’s approach to festivals and events.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefits cited were community engagement and cohesion, the development of community neighbourhoods, well-being, ownership of public spaces and improving access to cultural provision.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- there are a number of beautiful venues for outdoor events – canals and rivers as well as parks and squares. Clissold Park in Hackney, Waterloo Park in Camden and Hampstead Heath are on the doorstep and have large events; although not in the borough, these events are accessible to Islington residents.
- many staff whose work is connected to events are in the same office space, even though in different directorates.

Disadvantages:

- the financial timetable for local authorities is not always compatible with the timetable of organising an outdoor events programme where most of the events will take place in the summer. Decisions on whether events will take place are often taken later than is desirable and this can impact on the accessibility of the events.
- noise nuisance can be an issue in more densely populated areas. It can be difficult to hold large events in their green spaces which are mostly quite small. This makes health and safety an issue for events such as fireworks.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

There is no formal comprehensive monitoring or evaluation of events by the community events team. Practical and health and safety elements of the events are monitored by parks and licensing and parks does rough head-counts. The festival grants scheme does have a monitoring process although this is again focused on numbers of attenders rather than the quality of the event and the public’s experience of taking part.

Organisers are made aware of the monitoring and evaluation toolkit developed by Audiences London, funded by Arts Council England.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The council would like to have an up-to-date event toolkit for the use of community event organisers in the borough. 4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

There is no set income-generation target but there is a sliding scale of charges for the hire of parks. The cost of hiring a park depends on the size and nature of the event and the type of organisation. Two parks (Finsbury Square and Highbury Fields) cost more to hire than the others. The minimum park hire is £150 plus there is an additional administration charge of £200 for any licensable event, but the borough currently does not charge this. The maximum park hire is £10,000 for a corporate or commercial event, but for corporate events the amount is more likely to be £2-5,000. Council event organisers are not charged for use of the parks.

There is a standard £2,000 deposit from all those who book the parks for events in case of damage. Any income generated by park hires is not currently designated for spend on parks or green spaces. This is under consideration as part of the event policy review.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is no centrally held budget for council-organised events, although individual sections do have budgets.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There are various pots of funding for community events such as the community chest, local area committees and the community access fund. The council provides grant aid to support festivals and events in the borough. This small grant fund of £17,000 per annum is from 2010 to be managed by the council’s arts officer.

Community groups are given guidance on where they can apply for funding and community engagement is arranging training in fundraising for community groups. A fund specifically available to community groups to improve accessibility of their events will be available for events in 2010.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The parks receive sponsorship for signs in the parks.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The community and events team ensures all members are kept informed of events taking place in the parks. The executive member for equalities and leisure is the key advocate for outdoor arts events and activities and has final approval on the distribution of the festival grants fund.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

The community and events team has referred community groups to the ‘Reach’ programme at London Metropolitan University, in which students gain work experience by working as volunteers with community groups in the borough. Islington has also provided training for representatives of the ‘friends’ and ‘user’ groups associated with the parks. For instance – via the community chest fund it was able to offer training in first aid training, risk-assessment and fundraising.

The training provision links in with the policy to encourage the community events organisers to be more independent. The arts service is also exploring the development of training for arts festival and event organisers through the Central Arts Partnership.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

There is no toolkit available at present.

There are guidance notes about making events and advertising more accessible, and some advice sheets that go out with the application pack. Officers are aware of the need to strike a balance between providing information that is needed and not intimidating community organisers with too much paperwork.

There is limited parks information available on the website. There are descriptions and basic facility information on the largest parks. This is in the process of being improved.

5.4 Equipment resources

It is not known whether the council has equipment resources. The area parks managers have a bank of access equipment that community groups can borrow to make their events more accessible, such as induction loops and other equipment to include hard of hearing or deaf people in events, temporary hard-surfacing, and high-visibility jackets for ‘access volunteers’.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Blank site maps are sent to those wishing to use the parks.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

Along with the application pack, event organisers are sent guidance notes, including information on licences (in need of updating), a site map, food advice and a risk-assessment template.

6.2 First points of contact

The first point of contact for an event organiser will be the borough’s Greenspace event officers in the community and events team. Organisers wishing to host an event in one of the borough’s town centres would go directly to that town centre manager.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

A completed application form, site map and risk-assessment and a completed Performing Rights Society form.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

For small events in the parks that do not require a licence, 20 days are required to process an application to use a park. For events that require either a temporary event notice or a premises licence for up to 1,000, a minimum of 45 days’ notice is required. For events with more than 1,000 people, a minimum of 90 days’ notice is required. There is often pressure to shorten these timescales. Timescales may be changed with review of event policy.

6.5 Once an application is received

The event officers receive the forms and then they or Greenspace staff check through the received applications and where appropriate will forward it to the newly established safety advisory group, which meets monthly and includes the noise team, licensing, building control and the food officers in environmental health as well as representatives of external organisations such as the police. Event organisers who are required to present their event proposals to the safety advisory group are advised to do so by the events coordinator.

The safety advisory group has the right to reject any event application if it believes, through consensus, that the proposed event organisers cannot demonstrate that they have the planning and expertise to deliver a well designed, well planned and well managed event.

If the safety advisory group has concerns about the use of the park under the council’s premises licence it can also recommend that the applicant applies for a separate premises licence for the event. A new premises application for the park will be required to be submitted under the Licensing Act. Details of how to make application can be found at www.islington.gov.uk/Business/regulations/licences/licensing_act/. A new premises application can take up to two months so all proposals for large events need to be submitted to the events officer as early as possible.

The community and event officers also seek public liability insurance policies from organisers, and where applicable, any third parties involved in the event. Method statements may also be requested if temporary structures are to be erected. The application also gets mailed to the relevant community ranger and area parks manager for information, comment and to find out if any special conditions may be required.

When the all relevant officers have checked there are no issues with the application and when where necessary a temporary notice or premises licence have been issued, the Greenspace officers will issue a memorandum of agreement setting out all the conditions for hire of the site. A copy of this document is sent to the area park managers and Parkguard (who provides parks security). A monthly schedule of all events in green spaces is mailed to all councillors, friends groups, public protection officers, Parkguard and details are passed to communications for inclusion in the What’s on diary. 6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The events officers as well as the area parks officers offer support with organisation but are encouraging community groups to be more independent.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are 15 local authority parks that have premises licences and these are listed on the park hire guidelines for applicants. The premises licences are held by the council and the conditions vary. Holloway Road Park is limited to four events per year. Finsbury Square is the only park licensed for alcohol.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

There is very good liaison between community engagement, licensing, parks, environmental health and – when needed – with traffic management and building control, but none of these have to date had any contact with the borough’s cultural services.

The community and events officers with the licensing team are setting up a safety advisory group for events to provide expert advice, input and decision making for larger events that pose greater potential risk for larger events. The group comprises council staff and external agency staff.

The proposed corporate festival development project group will help improve communication between the various departments and ‘provide a coherent approach to festivals and events within the council through a review of the current management and development arrangements’.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The council communications team is responsible for all press and publicity for the events managed by council staff. It also has a What’s on page on the website. Community events are included on the website, particularly where they have received funding from the council or take place in local authority venues. Keeping the What’s on website up to date is a challenge, even though the different directorates are only responsible for their own sections. Where the events are jointly managed with community or friends groups, the latter would not need to go through the communications team or meet the corporate style guidelines.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The events officers are part of London Events Forum. Licensing officers often work with Camden. Parks work with City of London, which owns Fortune Street Park in Islington. The arts officer works with the central London boroughs through the Central Arts Partnership.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The parks officers work closely with over 50 park ‘friends and users’ groups and many of these groups organise their own festivals and events. The community and events team also works with a range of community groups and provides varying levels of assistance with event organisation.

The arts officer works with a range of arts providers on an individual basis and through the third sector arts network organisation, Creative Islington.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The community engagement team has up to date guidelines available on how to make events more accessible – both in relation to communications and marketing and in practical terms. The officers are happy to make these available to other London boroughs. The question was raised as to whether such guidelines might usefully be included in the London-wide event toolkit that London Events Forum is working towards.

As well as making the guidelines available to all event organisers in the borough, the community engagement team is about to launch an access fund for event organisers wishing to improve access to their events.

Officers noted that accessibility to events was often a casualty of events organised at short notice. Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Outdoor arts events and activity

Kensington and Chelsea is one of London’s two royal boroughs. The borough has a high population density of 180,300 in 1215 hectares and contains many of the most exclusive residential areas of London. Twenty-three per cent of the population is from ethnic minorities.

The borough has less open space than any other area in London (except for the City of London) but has some large parks and open spaces, such as Holland Park and parts of Kensington Gardens, and many smaller areas, some which are open to the public, and others which are for the private use of residents. Three of the borough’s parks have been awarded Green Flag status.

1 Staffing

The borough has one ‘external events’ officer – whose duties include filming, Notting Hill Carnival and other outdoor events – one senior officer for arts and culture, and an arts development officer whose responsibilities are to deliver public art, art events and respond to the public enquiries. Due to a restructure there now is a head of culture. Arts falls under transport, environment and leisure services directorate.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

The council organises:

- Across the Street, Around the World
- In transit in summer
- Jubilee fireworks and displays
- Opera Holland Park, and various public outdoor arts installations, including Exhibition Road and a seven-day festival for the Olympics

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

- Mayoral events
- education/sports events
- museums and public galleries
- children’s carnival

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

- Notting Hill Carnival
- Chelsea Festival
- Earls Court Festival
- Golborne Festival
- numerous community events on the streets and in the borough’s open spaces
- Exhibition Rd – a vibrant centre, with a rich history of encouraging innovation and creativity
- Cultural Group-Music Day.

2.4 Commercial arts events

- Notting Hill and Portobello Film Festivals
- events held at the Saatchi Gallery
- Art London
- London Design week

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Across the Street around the World
- In transit
- Opera Holland Park
- Exhibition Road

These have their own programming but there is not a specific events programme for the borough.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

There was a 2004-2008 arts strategy, which is still being adopted according to the service delivery plan. A cultural strategy is planned for 2009. 3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits:

- social inclusion
- community cohesion

Problems:

- Opera Holland Park regularly receives noise complaints and has issues with parking
- the carnival receives some complaints (police helicopter during carnival, graffiti damage, banners left up over time and general disruption)

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- community engagement and cohesion
- educational benefits of providing opportunities for people to experience artforms new to them, such as opera

Disadvantages:

- competing demand for limited outdoor space and balancing that demand with the use of a limited resource for the community as a whole
- costs of maintaining outdoor space and the increased costs associated with providing and hosting events

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

- debrief event with organiser and members of the safety advisory group
- officers also encourage vox pops
- evaluation from film and photos and feedback posted on website

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

- existing programme needs to be more coordinated with a comprehensive events calendar to make events more accessible
- responsibility for coordinating filming and events in the boroughs parks and open spaces have been transferred to the filming and special events office, which already manages filming and events on the borough’s streets.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

Filming has an income target set at £50,000 while the parks and events have no set targets, although they are expected to make £25,000.

4.2 Funding for council events

Council events are funded from individual business group budgets. There is no specific funding for council events.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There are arts grants schemes available from the arts team for artists and organisations to develop high-quality arts events within the borough. Individuals can apply for grants up to a maximum of £1,000. Organisations can apply for grants up to a maximum of £3,000.

Professional bursaries are also available.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Opera Holland Park and the council’s museums raise funds from sponsorship and donations.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Council members are very supportive. Within the borough there is a public arts advisory group, Turtle key arts are also based in the borough

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

The arts service hosts a festivals forum to allow event organisers to benefit from each others’ experience and get advice from council officers and invited speakers.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

Arts project planning is offered by art development officer. A toolkit is planned for 2010. Website information is yet to be developed; currently the special events office issues guidance on organising street events. 5.4 Equipment resources

None.

5.5 Maps and site plans

As part of the application, plans and maps are needed. The council uses their own mapping system and OS based software.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

There is no formal booking procedure for parks. Bookings go to the sports section, which refers any non-sports enquiries to the special events office. The borough would like to create a better online booking system.

6.2 First points of contact

Applicants go first to the parks bookings office or the filming and special events office.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

Applicants must supply an event proposal and provisional dates.

6.4 Timelines advised / required for non-council event organisers

Timelines are discussed on application.

6.5 Once an application is received

The events team meets with the applicant.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The role of the filming and special events office is to provide a single point of contact with the event organiser – giving support, advice and guidance on obtaining the necessary permissions and planning the event to ensure it is safe and successful with minimum disruption to the surrounding areas.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There is no premises licence in any of the borough parks.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The filming and special events office liaises with other council departments as necessary to ensure event organisers have the relevant permissions.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

All council events have to be flagged up to the marketing and communication department for borough branding. There is a template for posters, etc. Events are on Facebook and Twitter. All marketing for the Notting Hill Carnival is managed by Westminster-media com. Libraries control the events diary on the website. The arts service uses and promotes the Seer for event marketing.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Kensington and Chelsea belongs to CLAP and the Western Wedge (seven local authorities: Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea).

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The borough belongs to the National Outdoor Events Association.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The borough has sponsored crowd management research by the Health and Safety Executive to look at crowd management at large outdoor events, which will be used in the review of the event safety guide. The borough was also represented on the working group reviewing the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health’s guidance on outdoor catering. Royal Borough of Kingston Outdoor arts events and activity

Kingston is a borough covering 3724 hectares on the periphery of south-west London. Of the 160,100 population 15 per cent of the population belongs to an ethnic minority.

Kingston has a wealth of open spaces including parks, playgrounds, recreational sites, the Hogsmill River, and local nature reserves.

1 Staffing

The borough closed down its events department in 2008; from 1 January 2009 it transferred the function for community outdoor events in the town centre to Kingston First (Business Improvement District). Remaining events in Kingston borough were then distributed among the various neighbourhood managers.

The arts officer comes under the ‘culture arts sports libraries museum learning and children services directorate’ and promotes all art-related initiatives. Responsibility for outdoor events also falls within the remit of the green spaces team in environmental services.

2 Events programme/activity

Council-run events:

- Think in Kingston
- Aspire, Sakoba Youth Dance Festival
- Go Kingston Go (Sports and Art outdoor event)
- Muybridge Festival

Events organised in partnership with external organisations:

- Kingston Readers’ Festival
- Festival of the Voice
- International Youth Arts Festival
- Kingston Summer Arts Season
- Carnival (see below)

2.1 Events organised by Kingston First

Kingston First delivers:

- May Merrie
- The River Festival
- Christmas lights switch-on

The contractor also organises:

- Old London Road Easter Egg-stravaganza
- Thumbs Up It’s Thursday
- Kingston Food Festival
- Health and Beauty Event

The following are organised in partnership:

- Chinese New Year
- Kingston Carnival

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

- Paint the Town Green (environmental services)

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

- Korean festival
- New Malden Arts Festival
- Seething Festival
- Diwali
- Navrati Festival

2.4 Commercial arts events

Circuses are not regular as open spaces limited. The river fest is an annual event.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- Kingston Carnival
- International Youth Arts Festival

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

There is a cultural strategy that states the need to increase the participation of young people. There is no policy specifically for outdoor events, although the International Youth Arts Festival includes street-based events and has aspirations to bring No Fit State Circus to an outdoor site in Kingston.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits:

- increased footfall into Kingston town centre so that visitors attracted to events stay and enjoy shops, restaurants, bars, and riverside
- increased the media profile of Kingston as a town with a great programme of arts and entertainment
- a diverse range of cultural facilities/events for all residents to enjoy

Problems:

- noise levels can annoy residents
- the weather!
- getting permission to hold outdoor events from the council can sometimes take time
- getting enough volunteers to run a large event smoothly
- cost of hiring space, suspension of parking bays
- health and safety procedures
- risk assessments
- appropriate public liability insurance
- timescales

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- presenting potentially imaginative work that will attract a good audience
- presenting diverse arts to bring new people to the town centre – community cohesion
- presenting professionally produced work of a high quality

Disadvantages:

- limited resources, especially in staff time and scheduling – especially in the summer months when the council/Kingston First and its partners are busy producing their own events.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Feedback forms and postcards are provided to audiences at most events. Suggestions, quality control is monitored through these. Some information is collated on demographics of audience and postcode mosaicing.

Debriefing takes place after events to monitor what worked well and what improvements are required. Town centre rangers monitor numbers with head counts and the occasional use of vox pops and clickers.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

- a wider selection of events
- introduction of new artforms, for example, outdoor circus etc
- additional donations from Kingston businesses or sponsorship
- projects that have secured their own funding

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

Kingston First works for the businesses and therefore there is no income target. The aim is to deliver the event within budget, saving money if possible, which will then carry over to the next year.

There are discounted charges for community events, ranging from £45 to £200. Other large events are charged between £100-£800. Commercial businesses are charged £75-£1400 per day.

4.2 Funding for council events

Council funding is very limited. See the grants section of the website. There are small pots of money normally from a neighbourhood/small project grant.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

See above.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Not applicable. 5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Kingston First promotes council and other group events via the website. It also helps out by providing admin support, on the day operational support, and lends resources such as tables, chairs, tents, etc.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Risk-assessment training is available.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

There is none available at present. The borough would value a toolkit.

5.4 Equipment resources

There are no equipment resources held within the borough.

5.5 Maps and site plans

A map of the planned event is required. Maps and site plans of open space in the borough are available.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

The process is as follows:

- confirming budget
- securing date by seeking permission from the council to book space in the town centre
- where needed booking road closures, suspending car bays, permission to put up structures
- booking performers
- securing volunteers
- writing risk-assessment, site plan, programme for the day (a copy to be sent to the council)
- where necessary informing police

6.1 Pre-application information

The arts manager is on hand for meetings re pre-application information.

6.2 First points of contact

The applicant must contact the arts manager and events executive.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

An event plan, budget is required.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

One to three months is needed.

6.5 Once an application is received

Planning meetings are arranged.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Green Spaces is responsible for providing permission to stage outdoor events, but enquiries can come to the arts officer and then can be forwarded them to the officer with this responsibility.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Information not available.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

Information should be sent to the arts manager for distribution.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

There is an events diary on the website managed by the town centre manager and organisers are encouraged to post their events.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The borough is a member of South London Arts Partnership (SLAP), along with Merton, Richmond, Sutton, Bromley, and Croydon.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

There are links with Kingston Arts Council, Global Arts, Kingston University, and Rose Theatre. London Borough of Lambeth Outdoor arts events and activity

Lambeth is an inner London borough with a population of over 272,000 in 2684 hectares. Venues that can be used for outdoor arts events include 60 local authority parks and green spaces. Six parks managed by the council have Green Flag Award status.

There are also a number of non-council owned venues that stage outdoor arts events, including the Southbank Centre, Imperial War Museum and Jubilee Gardens.

1 Staffing

The events team is part of the cultural strategy service and works alongside the arts and 2012 officers. The team is made up of a cultural activity manager and cultural activity project officers.

2 Event programme/activity

The borough has a mixed programme of council, commercial and community events. The event strategy sets out what work the council staff will undertake on these events, from managing to supporting and facilitating.

Of the 230 events held in Lambeth’s parks and open spaces, approximately 30 per cent have an arts and culture content. All events once approved are put onto the council’s online event calendar.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

Lambeth Country Show is a two-day event that is 35 years old and attracts an audience of over 100,000 people. It has been managed in-house by the council for the last two years. In November the council manages three simultaneous fireworks shows across the borough, which are free and have a total audience of approximately 120,000.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The events service offers technical support to other council departments who organise their own outdoor events.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

The events service offers support to community organisers of events such as Day of Portugal, Day of Madeira, Brixton Splash and events that take place on one of the three borough bandstands.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Lambeth is making a concerted effort to encourage commercial events in its parks, while remaining aware of the impact on local residents and the views of ‘friends’ groups.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

A sample of the 220 events in the borough’s parks and open spaces:

- Lambeth Country Show
- Fireworks displays (three)
- Colourscape Music Festival
- Stockwell Festival
- Streatham Arts Festival
- bandstands and summer programme of events in Ruskin Park, Myatt Fields Park and on Clapham Common
- Day of Madeira
- Clapham Weekender
- Toast – independent promoter’s event on Clapham Common
- Brixton Splash

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The Lambeth events strategy 2007–12 is a detailed document about all outdoor events and festivals, with the exception of corporate promotions and conferences. Although a stand-alone, events-specific document, it acknowledges that, ‘events provide cultural, social and economic benefits that reflect the diverse and vibrant community’ in Lambeth, and it clearly sets out the contributions events make to the borough’s overall strategic goals.

It also describes the events service’s aims of delivering different types of events, for example, council-led, community, and commercial. The strategy can be downloaded from the Lambeth website.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The Lambeth events strategy sets out the cultural, social and economic benefits of events to the borough and its residents. The provision of events has to be balanced with the impact they have on local residents. Striking the right balance is a challenge.

Problems can be caused by large events organised with insufficient lead-in periods.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

The borough has some excellent spaces for outdoor events. A large part of the borough is central to London and it has good transport links. There is a very creative community in Lambeth who want to make events happen. No disadvantages were identified.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

There is an annual review of all the borough’s events and festivals. Officers monitor all events that take place in the borough and detailed de-briefs are held with all organisers.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The borough is working towards ensuring that both the events programme and individual events are accessible and inclusive, appealing to culturally diverse audiences.

It aspires to have an environmentally sustainable event programme and to support local community groups in organising their own events. It is also keen to work with the Southbank Centre and to encourage the centre to extend the high-standard outdoor arts events that it stages further towards the south of the borough.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

There are set commercial hire rates depending on the size and duration of the event. All event organisers are liable for any damage to the parks and are charged a deposit for any remedial works required. Deposits vary according to the event. For deposits under £500 credit/debit card details are held. For deposits over £500 payment must be made one month in advance. The cost for traffic management orders is not identified.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is a core budget to support the authority’s main events organised in-house.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

The Lambeth Community Fund is currently under review. There are no specific arts or events grants. The Lambeth website has funding advice and links to many non-council sources of funding.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Lambeth does not currently have sponsorship for its events. The website directs community event organisers wishing to explore sponsorship to Arts and Business.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

No specific advocates for events were identified.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

The borough does not currently have a training provision for community event organisers, although it is keen to encourage community organisations to organise their own events and the event service is able to offer support and guidance. 5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The Lambeth event guide for organisers is a work-in-progress and will be available on the website soon. The website displays basic information on organising an event in one of Lambeth’s parks or open spaces (through the Frequently asked questions document). Organisers of community events are directed to the Voluntary Arts Network document, Health and safety at outdoor events. Organisers of larger events are directed to the Health and Safety Executive website and to the event safety guide. There is also information on licences with applications for temporary events notices and premises licences and an information sheet on noise control at outdoor events.

There are details of 60 parks on the website. Information on each includes the type of activities that take place, facilities, history, features, transport links, postal address and links to a location map, the friends group, and – for the three parks with bandstands – a link to the application form.

The parks information on the website also links to the websites for non-council managed parks and parks outside Lambeth that border the borough.

5.4 Equipment resources

Organisers providing performances at the bandstand on Clapham Common can borrow deckchairs and white picket fencing.

5.5 Maps and site plans

The website provides maps for all its parks. Maps for use as site plans are available through the event service.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

See 5.3.

6.2 First points of contact

All initial enquiries are directed by the call centre to the events service. A basic application form for events in parks is available online, which once completed is returned to the event service. There is also an application online for those wishing to stage events at any of the borough’s three bandstands. Applicants requiring a licence or a traffic management order are directed to the appropriate officers in the authority.

While the events team can offer advice on organising street parties, it does not book them. Organisers are required to seek permissions directly from the police, the traffic management officers and where appropriate the licensing team.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

A basic application is required. If organisers have queries or need support with completing the application, officers can help. Organisers of larger events may be invited to submit a proposal and to arrange a meeting with the events service.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Applications for:

- small events (up to 1,000 people) require two months notice
- medium events (up to 5,000 people) require three months notice
- large events (over 5,000 people) require four months notice

The notice periods for licences are the statutory 10 days for a temporary event notice and 28 days for a premises licence, although in practice the likelihood of issues arising from applications means that organisers are advised to follow the above timelines. A notice period specifically for traffic management orders is not currently identified.

Applicants wishing to stage events on the borough’s bandstands are required to apply by 26 February 2010 for events for the summer season.

6.5 Once an application is received

Applications are assessed by the events service. Where necessary, organisers are requested to meet with the events service. The events service also offers guidance and support in developing events. 6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Guidance, advice and support are available at any time.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

None of the local authority parks and spaces in Lambeth has premises licences.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The events service and the arts team are joined under cultural strategy and are based in the same offices. There are very good communications between the events service and the parks team. The event safety group incorporating licensing, environmental health, health and safety and traffic management meets twice a year. The events service is able to provide technical support to other council organisers of events but this relationship is in development.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The marketing of Lambeth’s events is a corporate priority. It produces its own marketing for its in-house events and follows corporate guidelines. In 2009 there was a marketing officer specifically allocated to Lambeth Country Show and this was extremely successful.

All events taking place in the borough’s parks are entered by the events team onto the online events diary in the festivals and events category. Community groups can approach the communications team to have their events included in this in-house magazine, which is published every two weeks. Any required press interviews relating to Lambeth events are allocated to councillors.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Lambeth events team belongs to the London Events Forum and has contacts with neighbouring Southwark.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The Southbank Centre is a key cultural partner. The council works closely with many community-led events, such as Day of Portugal, Day of Madeira, Brixton Splash and a number of other community events. London Borough of Lewisham Outdoor arts events and activity

The borough of Lewisham is an inner London borough in south-east London. It has a population of 261,600. The borough covers 3526 hectares, 474 of which are defined as sites of nature conservation importance.

The management of the 45 borough-owned parks and facilities is contracted out to Glendale Grounds Management. Lewisham has nine parks that have been awarded the Green Flag status.

1 Staffing

The events team comprises an events manager and an events assistant. The team sits in community and neighbourhood development in the community services directorate. It offers advice and guidance on running events and festivals in the borough. The team also hosts a multi-agency events safety advisory group, which considers and advises on all proposals for major events. The events team produces Lewisham People’s Day, Blackheath Fireworks, the Pride Awards and leads Lewisham’s participation in a range of initiatives, including The Big Lunch, The Big Dance, Next Stop 2012.

2 Event programme/activity

The borough plays host to a huge number of events each year.

Lewisham events are included in the borough event list appended to the report.

2.1 Events organised by the council

- Lewisham People’s Day
- Blackheath fireworks
- Lewisham Country Fayre
- Bike and Kite
- Christmas lights switch-on

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

Glendale Grounds Management is contracted by the council to manage the council’s parks and to hire out parks and open spaces for use by event organisers. Glendale works in partnership with the council to deliver an outdoor events programm. Full details on booking procedures are on the Lewisham website.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

Lewisham has a large number of events as provided in the borough events list and also there are other external events:

- at Horniman Museum
- Blythe Hill Festival
- Brockley Max
- Forest Fest (Forest Hill School)
- Sydenham Arts Festival
- Sydenham International Music Festival
- Deptford X

2.4 Commercial arts events

There are only fairgrounds only at present. 3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The events team is guided by the community and neighbourhood development departmental plan and more broadly by the sustainable community strategy. It supports festivals and events that contribute to citizens’ sense of place and celebrate local areas and identities. The council’s strategic documents are available on the website.

Events contribute to promoting and delivering a wide range of Lewisham’s strategic priorities across all directorates. In addition to the sustainable community strategy, the Lewisham cultural strategy is also very relevant. The open spaces strategy also refers to events.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

See the sustainable community strategy for strategic priorities, expectations and aspirations.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- Glendale Grounds Management, as external contractors, manage the risks.
- Lewisham has a highly creative community that feeds into events.
- there are a number of parks and open spaces that are suitable for events of different sizes.

Disadvantages:

- it can be a challenge to keep control of the events proposed.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

The multi-agency safety advisory group monitors all events and meets quarterly to discuss proposals for major events in the borough and to hold debriefs where appropriate.

All events have bespoke evaluation and monitoring systems in place either for funders or as part of legislative requirements.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

Lewisham’s aspirations, in addition to those set out in their strategy documents are to:

- continue to develop partnership working opportunities
- diversify their sponsorship portfolio for their main events
- consolidate the internal funding offer
- continue to adhere to the sustainable community strategy
- maintain an open and constructive dialogue with organisations and individuals
- keep appraised of industry best practice
- support event organisers to develop innovative projects
- develop accredited and informal training opportunities
- continue to communicate Health and Safety Executive legislation and industry regulations locally

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

All lettings charges vary according to the scale of the event. Information is available in the application form on the website. All applications go to Glendale Grounds Management with a deposit.

4.2 Funding for council events

Key events are partly funded by the council, and partly sponsored or commercially supported.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

For funding guidelines see www.lewisham.gov.uk/NewsAndEvents/Events/PlanningEvent/

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The events team can offer advice to organisers seeking funding. 5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The events team and all officers working on events act as advocates for events.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Occasional training is offered to community groups.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

See www.lewisham.gov.uk/NewsAndEvents/Events/PlanningEvent/ Glendale Grounds Management has a comprehensive guideline toolkit for event organisers.

5.4 Equipment resource

There is some equipment available for event organisers to borrow.

5.5 Maps and site-plans

Glendale requires a map and site plan of all events. All council-run events have a detailed site plan. All events presented at the events safety advisory group are required to supply a detailed site plan.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

The process for organising an event is clearly set out on the borough’s website.

6.1 Pre-application information

There is very clear information on the council’s website.

6.2 First points of contact

The first point of contact varies. Enquiries may come to the events team, licensing, Glendale, the police, or health and safety. All of these have good communications with one another so enquiries are directed according to the nature of the event.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

If applying to Glendale to book a park or open space, event organisers are first required to submit a brief outline of the event, proof of appropriate insurance cover, risk-assessments and method statements.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Glendale asks that the event application is complete and passed to it at least eight weeks before the event date.

6.5 Once an application is received

Glendale informs the council events team and safety advisory group.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Glendale does a lot of ‘hand-holding’ help with risk assessments, method statements and licence applications. A multi-agency partnership supports event organisers in the borough. This includes the events team, Glendale, licensing and the police.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Glendale currently holds five premises licences (for Mountsfield Park, Blackheath, Manor Park, Manor House Gardens and Telegraph Hill) and is in the process of applying for premises licences for Forster Park and Chinbrook Meadows.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

Communications are good between all those linked in to the event safety advisory group. Additionally, there is an awareness of other events within the council, but not necessarily a formal working relationship.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

All council events have to be marketed through the council’s communications team. 7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Cross-borough communications and partnerships are event-specific.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The events team works with an extensive range of non-council organisations that includes:

- Visit London
- Global Local
- Safer Lewisham Partnership
- the local primary care trust
- Performance Rights Society
- Laban
- Albany Theatre
- TGLP
- London Events Forum
- Local Authority Event Organisers Group
- Lewisham Music Service
- Arts Council England

plus over 100 community groups and commercial sponsors.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The events team focuses on supporting and facilitating community-led events:

- offering bespoke, consistent advice on recognised industry best practice
- highlighting funding opportunities for events
- undertaking robust consultation and evaluation
- promoting partnership working and networking opportunities
- maintaining a flexible approach allowing quick responses to the needs of residents and stakeholders. London Borough of Merton Outdoor arts events and activity

The south-west London borough of Merton has a population of over 200,000 in its 3,758 hectares.

Merton is rich in green spaces with 67 parks and green spaces available. Three parks have been awarded Green Flag status.

1 Staffing

Merton has a dedicated ‘greenspaces’ events team of two, which sits in the leisure and green spaces section and is responsible for all of the events that take place in the borough’s parks and open spaces. The two-person arts team sits within the leisure and culture section along with the lead officer for 2012. The licensing team sits within the consumer and business protection section. All of these sections fall under the environment and regeneration umbrella.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

- Mitcham Carnival
- two bonfire and fireworks displays
- Merton in Bloom competition
- Cultural Olympiad events
- Merton Horticultural Show

Leisure and green spaces section facilitates:

- Mitcham Status Fair
- Cannizaro Festival
- Filipino Festival
- Zippo’s Circus

The arts team is responsible for organising:

- The Big Draw
- Black History Month

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

- Peace Week (several events take place in parks or open spaces)
- LGBT Month
- Numerous other events are organised by council departments to coincide with their programmes and targets throughout the year – recycling, Safer Merton, road safety, adult education etc.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

The green spaces events team received over 100 application forms from external groups, organisations and members of the public requesting to use the council’s parks and open spaces for various events this year.

2.4 Commercial arts events

- The National Trust offer a large selection of outdoor events throughout the year
- Filming of The Bill episodes in Merton’s parks or open spaces is categorised as a commercial event – the applications to film would initially go through the dedicated advertising, filming and sponsorship officer who sits within the communications team.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

The parks and open spaces art events calendar for 2009 is summarised below:

May

- Cultural Olympiad event
- art and sculpture display

June

- Filipino Festival
- Mitcham Carnival
- Wimbledon Village Fair July
- music festival
- Abbey Fest
- Cultural Olympiad open weekend
- Cannizaro festival
- children’s holiday activities

August

- community fun days
- jazz lunch
- Mitcham Festival
- Livewire Theatre
- horticultural show
- Change4Life

September

- Peace Week

October

- Wimbledon Bookfest
- arts development event

December

- carol singing

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

Merton has an open spaces policy which is to be implemented by 2010, with a review of the strategy every five years. The strategy was developed in consultation with residents and park users in 2007. Merton also has an arts policy, which fits within the cultural strategy, and refers to the strengthening and promoting of festival and events.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits:

- community cohesion and social inclusion
- income-generation

Problems:

- weather dependant – ground conditions permitting
- seasonal
- noise pollution
- cost and resources

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- autonomy of event
- first-hand rewards (public perception)
- direct feedback from participants (usually positive)
- full management of associated costs/budget
- artist booking is an enjoyable procedure
- can build on relationships already in place to create successful partnerships.

Disadvantages (depending on specific event):

- full responsibility bringing full liability
- stress
- potential lack of partnership cooperation
- complaints
- costs of outsourcing to providers impacting on quality of service
- lack of quality control
- no credit.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Events are monitored as a whole with specific aspects of those events being subject to scrutiny to ensure equality, diversity and access to the events. The team responsible for organising the event usually monitors them. Obviously each event is different, and different methods are occasionally employed. For example – the grant-monitoring feedback is different to the monitoring procedures put into place for, say, The Big Draw, which was monitored using participant comments, photographs and paintings. Though there are some similarities between the types of monitoring – it is sometimes important to acknowledge how varied projects require varied approaches.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

Ideally, more money/greater resource would benefit the outdoor arts programme; working to a tight budget and strict plan with targets, is difficult. Merton’s events are restricted. While it is understood that it is for the arts team to try to source funds, the probability of that happening within the current economic climate is unlikely.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

The income target for events and entertainment in 2009 was £56,000.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is an allocated green spaces budget for council-run events such as fireworks, Merton in Bloom, and the horticultural show. All external events fund themselves.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

The arts development team provide advice and guidance to voluntary arts organisations. There are small grants available to enable voluntary arts organisations to deliver high-quality arts projects in the borough; the maximum grant is £1,500.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Fundraising and sponsorship is managed by the dedicated advertising, filming and sponsorship officer within the communications team.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

- Friends groups
- residents’ associations
- councillors
- council officers
- local businesses
- community groups
- local press

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Not applicable.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The green space events team plays a supportive, administrative and advisory role.

An event web page is currently under construction, to include an online application form, advice, instruction, toolkit etc. All Merton’s information will be on the government website Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

5.4 Equipment resources

Not applicable.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Merton Council has its own mapping system (Planweb).

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

This can be obtained via:

- events web page currently under construction
- by phone
- by email

6.2 First points of contact

An application pack including examples of risk-assessments will be sent out upon first contact with the green spaces team. The first communication usually establishes whether the application for an event is feasible. The applicant will also be directed to event web pages for further information.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

An outline of the event is to be submitted, plus risk-assessments and insurance details are required; also the contact details of the organiser.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

For larger events, at least 8-12 months’ notice is required. For smaller events requiring temporary event notice, two months’ notice is needed.

6.5 Once an application is received

The green space events team distributes the information to licensing, arts, highways, town centre management, park managers and stakeholder groups where applicable.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The event team gives guidance, advice and support throughout the whole process. It will also arrange a site visit.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Premises licences currently exist for three sites:

- Figges Marsh
- Morden Park (Bandstand)
- Three King’s Piece 7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

A dedicated communications officer sits in the leisure and cultural services department (formed of leisure and green spaces and leisure and culture). There are good relations built with various council teams and partners.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The dedicated communications department is responsible for advertising and promotion of greenspace events. It also supports various external and partner groups if appropriate. The new events/diary web page will also have the facility to advertise council-run and externally organised events.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The borough takes part in South London Arts Partnership, (SLAP) along with Kingston, Richmond, Sutton, Bromley and Croydon.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Non-council events can be added to the web page. London Borough of Newham Outdoor arts events and activity

The London borough of Newham is an outer borough in East London. 249,500 reside within its 3623 hectares. Despite being one of the more highly populated areas of London it has over 20 parks, four of which have Green Flag Award status.

1 Staffing

The events team comprises a head of events and sponsorship, senior events officer, two events officers and two event assistants. From the parks service, the parks team leader (engagement) works on events. The arts team comprises a service group manager (community), an arts and heritage manager and an arts manager.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

All large outdoor and indoor events are organised by the events team in the communications service. Alongside this, the borough uses an external production company to help deliver the largest summer events.

Big outdoors events: March/April • Newham London Run • Sunday Fun Day July • The Mayor’s Newham Show • Newham Carnival August/September • Under the Stars November • Fireworks Display (Bonfire Night)

Other events: • flag-raising ceremonies celebrating various communities on their national days. • Remembrance Sunday and Armistice events • award ceremonies, for example, Children’s Awards

• senior managers conferences • Newham Council’s Annual General Meeting

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

• town centre manager organises French market and farmers’ market • community engagement team organises several events a year themed around the council priorities, eg, crime prevention, the environment, getting active. • parks hold events: Easter egg hunt, green gym, nest box building, land art events walking events plant for life hedgerow and bulb planting • children and young people’s services organise play days, award ceremonies for looked after children, foster carers, etc • human resources organises welcome events for new starters • the young mayor team organise an election campaign and election evening event annually • the sports development team organises runs, sporting tournaments, kick racism out of football events, etc, throughout the year.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

London City Airport Fun Day is an annual event at which the borough has a presence.

2.4 Commercial arts events

BBC Breathing Spaces

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

March/April • Sunday Fun Day July • The Mayor’s Newham Show • Newham Carnival August/September • Under the Stars November • Fireworks Display (Bonfire Night) 3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The council follows an outdoor and open spaces policy. An events strategy for the next few years leading up to 2012 and inclusive of events at the time of the Olympic Games is in place.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits:

- giving people chances to get active and inspired and to enjoy themselves together, allowing them to break down prejudice, prevent social exclusion and build a stronger sense of community;
- encouraging community cohesion
- bringing different communities together
- promoting healthy living
- promoting engagement with the arts
- promoting green policies
- promoting council initiatives and services
- promoting volunteering among the community by engaging the Newham Volunteers (Newham is running one of the biggest volunteering programmes in the country)
- raising the profile of the borough

Problems:

- attracting a young audience with small sections partaking in anti-social behaviour in surrounding areas
- noise
- parking and traffic

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

See 3.2.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

A safety advisory group meet regularly pre and post large events. For large events the engagement manager attends. There is no formal direct monitoring. Evaluation forms are distributed throughout the public.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

Appealing to new/different communities:

The council needs to factor in different types or events that appeal to Newham’s growing middle-class population.

Using new sites: following the success of the Royal Docks fireworks event the borough wants to discuss using new/different sites in the borough.

Tourism/showcasing the borough to visitors: traditionally council-organised events have focused on attracting local residents. However, the borough is increasingly becoming a visitor destination and moving towards 2012 this will only increase. It is vital that the borough schedules events that appeal to non-Newham residents and showcase the borough as a tourist destination and a place where people choose to live, work, etc.

Once Stratford City opens and the new Olympic Park is finished they will attract even more people from outside Newham. This will inevitably change the clientele of the borough’s events and it is vital that to focus on meeting their needs.

Helping residents organise their own events: building towards 2012 its vital that to capitalise on residents’ inspiration about the Olympic Games and ensure that they get involved and access new opportunities. The focus needs to change towards supporting residents to organise events for themselves.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income–generation targets/charges for use of parks

The borough charges on a sliding scale £50.00-£10,000 for use of parks. Commercial events start at £10,000.

4.2 Funding for council events

The communications service budget sets a proportion aside to fund the big four summer events, plus the other events that come under the responsibility of the communications team: Christmas lights switch-on, Remembrance.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

There is a grant scheme “GO FOR IT” that funds £2012 per application. The grant has to be related to an outdoor activity. 4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship Not applicable.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities Key members, the mayor and member of the executive board are very supportive of events.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations The borough is aiming to start a pack to help community members organise their own events: supplying bunting, grants, information about road closures, etc.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit) There is a 40-page booking form, which is complex and needs streamlining.

5.4 Equipment resources Not applicable.

5.5 Maps and site plans Not applicable.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event in the borough

6.1 Pre-application information The booking form has 40 pages and is not user-friendly (parks information). The council rarely hosts events organised by external companies (for example London Borough of Hackney renting Victoria Park for Lovebox). It is something that the council wants to do more in the future, especially leading up to 2012.

6.2 First points of contact The events team is the first point of contact.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact A brief outline of the event needs to be emailed to the events team.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers Eight weeks are required.

6.5 Once an application is received Please see 6.3

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact See 6.3

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough Not applicable.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments The events team sits in the council’s communications team, which means that all the big events and most of the smaller ones are being promoted and publicised very well. There is promotion of other small events within the council.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough Press releases are generated by the media team and there is a good relationship with local media. Newham Magazine, a council publication, gets delivered to every household fortnightly. There are posters and leaflets in all public council buildings and the council’s website publicises events. Street banners are very effective and rate highly in feedback.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects No cross borough communication and projects are known of.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations The primary care trust and West Ham football club attend Newham Show. Local regeneration partners, such as Westfield have a presence at the Sunday Funday. London Borough of Redbridge Outdoor arts events and activity

Redbridge is an outer London borough encompassing over 5,600 hectares of north-east London. Redbridge is known as the ‘leafy suburb’. Approximately one-third of the borough lies within green belt land and there are 14 conservation areas. In total there are 1,200 acres of forest and 600 acres of green space and parks.

There are nearly 240,000 residents in Redbridge and the area continues to increase in population size. Two open spaces have been awarded Green Flag Award status.

1 Staffing

In the housing and community services cluster are culture, sport and community learning. The arts and events teams are grouped with marketing, libraries and museums. Parks and open spaces are managed by parks development and parks operations, also sitting within culture, sport and community learning. One functions unit manager and an events officer manage the outdoor events programme and take initial bookings.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

Wanstead Festival, Area5 ‘Our Community’ Festival and Inspiration are regular events organised by the council.

The Inspiration festival is an annual sports and arts festival which forms part of Redbridge’s Cultural Olympiad programme. The events team supports Wanstead Festival and Area 5 festival, which are funded through area committee funds.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The Dance Festival launch and outdoor theatre are organised by the arts development team.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

Redbridge has an active community programme. The events team supports the Redbridge Community Forum, Redbridge Carnival Association, local churches, temples, schools and charities in facilitating their annual events.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Redbridge does not run any commercial outdoor arts events.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

- rock festival
- various sponsored walks
- arts in the park summer season
- Redbridge Carnival
- public art programme
- youth arts programme
- children’s holiday art programme
- dance festival
- book and media festival
- Eastern Edge Film
- Barnardo’s firework display

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

There is an arts and events strategy which is yet to be formally adopted.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefit cited was community engagement and social cohesion with events bringing members of a diverse community together and offering them new experiences.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

No advantages and disadvantages where listed.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Head counts are done at events by the officer in attendance, stewards monitor attendance and feedback forms are handed out. All information feeds into the performance indicators and a report is drafted and fed back to members in a debriefing session. Results are used to improve future events.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The events and parks managers would like to encourage organisers of events to use other parks in the borough. The borough is well served with community events and is popular with the community. Both managers would like there to be more high-profile events and while they encourage ‘go see’ exercises to other borough’s events, with a very small team it is difficult to spare the time.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

The income target is £25,000, which is achievable but not predictable.

Generally, council event organisers are not charged for use of the parks. If the event is free to the public it is at the discretion of the events manager to charge community and voluntary event organisers. This often depends on the scale of the event and the venue chosen. Large events, fairgrounds and commercial events are charged. All event organisers are liable for any damage to the parks and are charged for any remedial works required through a damage deposit.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is no centrally held budget for council-organised events. Occasional interdepartmental in-kind deals are set up for infrastructure.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Local groups and event organisers are encouraged to apply to Redbridge Arts Council. This is an umbrella organisation that receives a grant from the borough’s arts development team in order to support grassroots arts and events activity.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Not applicable.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Not applicable.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Community groups are encouraged to attend safety team and emergency planning meetings with borough staff before their event.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

There is a park hirers’ pack, which can be downloaded from the website and which is given out after receiving application forms. There is also a dedicated events and festivals section on the council website with online forms and ‘frequently asked questions’ (FAQs).

5.4 Equipment resources

There is no equipment held within the borough. The events team gives advice as to where to source equipment.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Event organisers booking the borough’s parks can obtain maps from the parks department.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

The council website has a phone number to ring to discuss holding an event in a park, an online form, etc. 6.2 First points of contact

This varies, although the first point of contact is usually the events team, so it can book the space. Customers can also send queries via the internet.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

This is a simple application form asking for contact details, name and type of event, equipment specification and a brief description of the event. Forms can be downloaded from the website.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

For large events, six months.

6.5 Once an application is received

The events officer processes applications and distributes to the relevant members of the Redbridge emergency and safety team.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Support is available for community groups although it is not the responsibility of the events team to manage the events.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Five parks and open spaces within the borough have premises licences.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

Redbridge emergency and safety team meets as and when to discuss applications received.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

There is an events diary on the website and organisers are encouraged to post their events. The leisure marketing team in partnership with corporate communications manages in-house marketing and publicity. Corporate communications vet all the posters.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The arts team works in partnership with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Waltham Forest on the Eastern Edge Film Partnership.

The arts and events team is part of the 2012 gateway boroughs partnership (Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Havering and Lewisham); the partnership is working on a large cross-borough festival collaboration in celebration of 2012.

The arts team is part of the Thames Gateway Dance partnership involving the five Olympic host boroughs and five gateway boroughs. The arts team is delivering a skills training project in partnership with Barking and Dagenham in aerial arts and film-making, which has been funded by London Development Agency and is managed by Arts Council England.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Klick Youth Arts project is funded by Arts Council England. The borough is in regular contact with Thames Gateway London Partnership about programming Cultural Olympiad events in the ‘gateway boroughs’. London Borough of Richmond Outdoor arts events and activity

London Borough of Richmond is in south-west London and forms part of outer London. It is the only London borough to straddle the Thames with districts on both sides of the river.

Altogether London Borough of Richmond’s parks section manages 140 parks and open spaces and 21 miles (34 km) of river frontage – five times more green and open space than any other London borough. Parks not managed by the local authority include Kew Gardens and Hampton Court as well as two Royal Parks – Richmond Park and Bushy Park, and Marble Hill, which is managed by English Heritage.

1 Staffing

There is no dedicated events team staff in Richmond Council to manage events; the service development office in parks facilitates the bookings of parks and open spaces for outdoor events. Head of parks has overall authority. The arts team also oversees arts elements of outdoor events.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

- Larks in the Parks
- Holi Festival of Colours
- On the Edge – free festival of world music
- Twickenham carnival

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

Town centre managers and tourism section organise and assist in hosting events in the borough.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

Most of the events programme is made up of community/charity events, for example:

- May Fair
- Barnes Fair
- Ham Fair
- Hampton Hill Carnival
- Twickenham Green Fete and Family Day
- St Margaret’s Fair

There are also several family fun days, dog shows, sports days, charity walks and runs that take place throughout the year. 2.4 Commercial arts events

There are numerous commercial events in council managed parks including circuses, funfairs, 5 & 10k runs plus rugby, baseball / softball and cricket events run by commercial organisations.

There are several charity fundraising events such as Race for Life, London to Windsor Bike Ride, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research London Bikeathon, Cancer Research Charity dog walk, Pink Power Walk, & Help the Heroes. Other non charity and non commercial events include the Great River Race, Twickenham Regatta, Richmond Regatta, Devizes to Westminster & various running club races.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

Parks does not have a programme of events; a list of all events is filed with parks. The annual outdoor arts programme is described as charity and community-based.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The parks and open spaces events policy was updated in 2009 but is under constant review. The central vision of the parks service is to work in partnership with local communities and event providers to enable enjoyable and appropriate events in the borough’s parks and open spaces.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits: • providing inclusive community-focused events for local residents and visitors alike.

Problems: • disturbance to local residents’ parking and on occasions noise as well as potential grass damage (this is covered under the deposit).

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages: • increased visitors to parks therefore enjoying the open space and return visits • income from events pays for improvements in those parks via revenue budget

Disadvantages: • a programme of accessible events is always a positive

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Parks and open spaces monitors complaints / comments from residents and councillors. Parks staff carry out a site visit after the event and may use the deposit to pay for any reinstatement ground works.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The parks section are reviewing their policy, considering licensing some sites, and looking to increase income by hosting large scale commercial events.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

The authority will set an annual scale of fees and charges for parks events:

• Small event up to 500 £1,000 or £150 day fee (15 per cent) • Medium event up to 2,000 £4,000 or £600 day fee (15 per cent) • Large event more than 2,000 £8,000 or £1,200 day fee (15 per cent)

The fees will depend on the type of event, the numbers attending and the duration of the event. £11,000 income was made in 2009 (excluding catering annual income) from open spaces.

Circus & Funfairs pay £500 per operational day. £100 per day is paid for sporting events. There is a £2,000 deposit taken for large events to cover any reinstatement works required.

Currently there is no charge for charity or community events.

There is a £2,000 deposit taken for large events to cover any reinstatement works required. 4.2 Funding for council events

The arts team funds a limited number of events, with the parks team & other environment directorate sections also contributing when budgets permit. Larks in the Parks and Twickenham Carnival are examples of supported events.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Small grants systems are available for the voluntary sector with information on the borough's website at www.richmond.gov.uk.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

None at present.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The ‘Arts Advisory Forum’ and ‘Richmond Arts Forum’ advocate for outdoor arts events and activities.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

The arts advisory forum can advise where to get training but none is known of at present.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The policy is very clear and acts as a guideline. It is available from the events page on their website www.richmond.gov.uk/parks_and_open_spaces. Officers are also always happy to meet and talk through applications.

5.4 Equipment resources

None is available.

5.5 Maps and site plans

These are available from the parks and open spaces Geographical Information System (GIS) officer.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

An event application form is available from parks and open spaces parks@richmond.gov.uk or from the borough’s website.

6.2 First points of contact

The service development office in parks is the first point of contact.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

- as much detail as possible about event that is being proposed
- a map of the site, showing a detailed internal layout including all temporary structures and support services, power supplies, toilets, first aid, organiser’s control base, etc
- Supporting documentation:
  - an emergency plan
  - a risk assessment
  - evidence of contact with relevant Metropolitan Police officer
  - public liability insurance cover to the value of £5million
  - proof of application for a TEN

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Organisers of festivals or concerts, who require a premises licence, should contact the licensing authority at least six months in advance. The borough recommend that the temporary event notice be given to the licensing authority and the police at least 20 working days in advance.

6.5 Once an application is received

The procedure for applying to use a park for any event is as follows:

- organisers contact the council
- organisers complete application as fully as possible
- the department consults with local community groups and local councillors (three weeks) • head of parks and cabinet member for the environment decide whether to allow the event • permission also depends on licensing; police and the environmental health section will need to be contacted; proof of public liability, risk-assessments and emergency procedures are required • for a community event, the council might allow use of an area, free of charge

Historically there have been very few music events in the borough’s parks as they tend to provoke controversy; however this is something that the parks section is developing as a viable income generation option.

The council would not help with publicity although the arts section and the press office might be able to display notices in community noticeboards or on the borough website.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Parks officer and/or arts officer available to advise and support.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are currently no premises licences in the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames parks.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The parks department works closely with the arts service, highways, trading, sports bookings, parking and licensing.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

There is a corporate identity for all council-run events. A3 community noticeboards around the borough are managed by the communications team. The Visit Richmond website offers a comprehensive guide to upcoming events. The communications team may be able to put information regarding non-council events on their website and in community notice boards.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

None known.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

None known. London Borough of Southwark Outdoor arts events and activity

Southwark is an inner London borough with a population of over 274,000 in 2885 hectares. Venues that can be used for outdoor arts events include over 100 local authority parks and green spaces, pedestrian areas along the riverside and a town square in Peckham.

Seven parks managed by the council have the Green Flag status. There are also several non-council owned venues that stage outdoor arts events.

1 Staffing

Under the head of service for culture there is an events, film and 2012 manager, a senior events officer, 2.2 events development officers, an event locations officer – who works primarily on locations hires – a corporate events officer and a temporary events assistant who offers general support and keeps the website updated. This events team works alongside an arts team and heritage service.

2 Event programme/activity

Southwark has a very large and diverse programme of over 170 outdoor events delivered by the council events team, and external partners (such as the Thames Festival) and community groups. There is a very positive attitude towards making events happen and all staff in the authority pro-actively work to remove obstacles and create solutions.

2.1 Outdoor events organised by the council

The council funds and leads on a broad programme of events, which includes the equality-led festival Silver (a series of events, mostly indoor) The Mix and Bermondsey Carnival, but its events are primarily grown from close working partnerships and collaborations that the event development officers nurture.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

All council organisers of events in parks and open spaces (including the town centres such as Peckham Square) go through Southwark’s events team, with varying levels of input from the team. The Mix, for example, is a partnership between the events team and the youth service and also with the young persons’ steering group. Young people also shadow the council officers in each of the organisational roles.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

Aside from the large non-council arts events such as the Thames Festival, Carnaval del Pueblo and the Coin Street Festival, there are a large number of community organisations and individuals who organise their own events. The events team is seeking to let go of its bigger events which are becoming self-sustaining, and is concentrating on supporting, encouraging and creating other events.

2.4 Commercial arts events

Commercial events are occasionally held in the borough’s parks and open spaces but are not encouraged. There is a high density of social housing in the borough and for many residents the parks are their gardens so the council is not keen to close off parks for commercial events, especially where residents perceive that the events attract predominantly visiting audiences and are therefore ‘not for local people’.

Due to its excellent location on the Thames near City Hall and Tower Bridge, Potters Fields Park was much in demand for private and commercial hires but residents often opposed them or, if they went ahead, complained about the noise, litter and disruption – particularly to parking. This situation has since been completely turned around.

A trust, with local representatives, was set up four years ago to manage the space that is leased to the trust by the council. The trust ringfences income from commercial and corporate hires and uses the money to fund community events and to support local community groups and activities. The residents therefore feel much greater ownership of the space and are more independent when making decisions.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

There were over 170 events in Southwark in 2009:

- Silver (older persons’ festival over two weeks with 60 events organised by community groups and 10 in-house)
- Black History Month
- Celebrating Women
- Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender History
- Bermondsey Carnival
- Carnaval del Pueblo in Burgess Park (funded by Southwark and Greater London Authority. Previously a partner event but becoming more independent).
- The Event – Southwark Park. Linked with Bermondsey Carnival
- The Mix (youth led event which the event team produces in partnership with the youth service). This is in Burgess Park at the moment but the team are keen to move the event around the borough.
- Southwark Youth Carnival (linked to The Mix)
- Southwark Irish Festival on Peckham Rye (funded by Southwark)
- Thames Festival (independent but part funded by Southwark)

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

Southwark has a specific events policy. It was produced four years ago and the events team is currently updating it. As well as setting out practical criteria for holding events, it identifies the benefits of events to the borough, links these benefits to Southwark’s overall priorities, and sets out the policy objectives against which the borough’s event programme can be assessed.

The cultural strategy is in development.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

The main benefit cited was community engagement and cohesion with events bringing a diverse community together. Events also encourage health and well-being as most residents in the borough do not have gardens and events encourage them to make the most of the public outdoor spaces. Other benefits identified include the animation of public spaces, chances to celebrate, the opportunity to create a positive reputation for the borough, with events providing a means of spreading positive messages, generating income and generally enhancing the borough’s cultural programme.

Problems with all large events are the potential for antisocial behaviour resulting from alcohol and the potential for events as a focus for gun crime. All major events in Southwark are assessed by the police on these two issues as well as other standard issues, and further relevant agencies are consulted depending on the individual events. Other problems can result from nuisance and damage to public areas and where local residents do not feel engaged with events in their locality and feel that they are more for visitors. Southwark has, however, developed some innovative ways to counteract this (see Potters Fields Park, at 2.4).

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

There is a dynamic and committed team with strong leadership and an overwhelming ‘can-do’ attitude. There are several very good parks and green spaces in the borough. Although some are very centrally located and high-profile, others are perceived to be a little too south of the river to be accessible from central London. This is generally the case in London for places where there is no tube access.

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

The events development officers are working with Attitude is Everything [an agency set up to improve Deaf and disabled people's access to live music] to undertake access audits of all the main venues in the borough used for events. All council events are monitored by an officer and there are also debriefing meetings for the larger events. Smaller community events are also attended by a council officer wherever possible, although with over 170 events this is a challenge. All events are required to complete evaluation forms (as part of a recently established evaluation process).

These evaluations contribute to an evaluation of the season's events and are particularly useful in identifying audiences and areas of the borough where development is required. Through this evaluation the borough identified the need to simplify the information available to organisations.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The borough events staff would like to have an up-to-date event toolkit for the use of community event organisers and to continue to develop capacity-building for them. The team is developing its online presence and particularly wants to iron out minor discrepancies between information on the website and the current guidelines.

The traffic management team would like to have guidelines for events; all traffic guidelines at the moment are written for utility or construction companies; they are not relevant for events.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks/licences

Southwark has an income-generation target of £20,000. There are set commercial hire rates that depend on the size and duration of the event, and an administration fee of £100. Community and charitable organisations pay a £50 admin cost and are eligible for a potential 50-100 per cent discount on the hire fees.

All event organisers are liable for any damage to the parks and are charged a 20 per cent deposit (or minimum £500) for any remedial works required. There is a cost of £700 for traffic management orders (£300 of which is to cover the cost of placing the required press notice). Street parties are exempt from this. Where special parking arrangements are required there is also a charge to cover the real costs, for example, of the parking enforcement officers.

4.2 Funding for council events

There is a core budget for events to support the local authority's main events and micro-grants are often available for programmes such as Black History Month, Silver, and Celebrating Women.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Southwark supports some non-council led events in the borough – such as Carnaval del Pueblo and Thames Festival. For the latter the borough also pays for one member of staff to organise the event.

For smaller events there are arts and culture grants available, which aim to help develop new arts projects, especially in dance and theatre and some of these projects will incorporate outdoor events. There are also funding grants from the community council fund via the borough's wards. Grants are up to £1,000.

Other arts organisations receive financial support for outdoor events through being part of one of the larger borough-themed events such as Silver or Boundless. There is often support given with marketing. The funding page on the website also links to national funding opportunities and officers often refer event organisers to other parts of the council for support.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Although some Southwark events have attracted sponsorship there are no sponsorship officers. The team has occasionally employed freelance sponsorship officers but this can be a cost rather than a source of income if sponsorship is not forthcoming. 5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The executive member for culture is extremely supportive of events in the borough and has a good understanding of their benefits.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

A programme of training sessions for community event organisers entitled Revealed was held in 2007 following a needs analysis. It was part funded by the European Social Fund (with a creative enterprise focus) and consisted of several workshops covering fundraising, marketing, evaluation, health and safety, accessibility, licensing and processes.

The programme was delivered by professionals from organisations such as the Media Trust and Attitude is Everything. It successfully supported 80 organisers of community events. There is no funding to repeat this training.

However, the adult learning team is able to fund a shorter version consisting of two days of training in health and safety, risk assessments, event promotions, creative programming, permissions and licensing and 10 steps to event management, with the training primarily being delivered by council staff. The events team is particularly keen to raise awareness of steward training, project planning and timelines, which will directly benefit Southwark in the provision of safe, creative events. This training will also be offered to community wardens and to council officers in parks and leisure.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

Guidance, advice and support are available at any time. There are useful guidelines on the website on licensing, health and safety precautions, event promotion, accessible events, event evaluation and event funding.

There are also guidelines for organisers on the website, which will help with the completion of the application form. The event development officers can offer support with developing events both before and after the application is made and this may include guidance on the creative content, the building of management teams and working partnerships. Practical support and advice comes from the locations team.

The food officer in environmental health has guidance notes on outside catering and is available to offer advice and guidance.

5.4 Equipment resources

The council does not have event equipment for community groups to borrow. Where a traffic management order is in place the borough’s traffic management contractor supplies signage, barriers and cones free of charge to community groups as a goodwill gesture.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Southwark has a Geographic Information System (GIS) department that can send CAD (Computer Aided Design) maps to event organisers for use as site plans. Southwark covers the licence cost for this so it is free to organisers. The events team also has a bank of maps for event organisers working in the borough’s main parks or spaces.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

An event application form is available from parks and open spaces parks@richmond.gov.uk or from the borough’s website.

6.2 First points of contact

All initial enquiries are directed by the call centre to the events team (although callers may also be directed to the website). All applications go to the locations team. If organisers have queries or need support with completing the application, officers are available to offer guidance. For small events the locations team supplies a simple matrix to assist organisers with preparing their risk assessment.

The events team used to have a risk-assessment template and examples for organisers to follow but found that this could be more of a hindrance as some organisers merely reproduced it verbatim.

The events team acts as a one-stop shop for event organisers, so, for example, even the website information available on licensing gives the events team as the main point of contact for further information.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

The application to hold an event in the borough is quite detailed and there is a thorough checklist of supporting documents that are required. Although applicants are encouraged to attach all supporting documents with the original application there is an understanding that this may not always be possible and dates for submission of documentation can be negotiated. The detail required of the supporting documentation varies according to the size and complexity of the event.

Supporting documents required are:

- site plan
- risk assessment
- proof of public liability insurance
- crowd-management plan
- emergency control plan
- first aid provision
- communications plan
- production and event timetable
- artists line-up
- method statement
- fire procedures
- transport plan
- lost children plan
- waste management plan
- environmental impact assessment
- access and interpretation provision
- marketing plan
- equal opportunities statement.

These supporting documents not only help the events team assess the events but also identify areas where the organisers need guidance and support.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Completed applications for the smaller events must be received at least six weeks in advance, although where support is required three months is suggested. Larger events require at least 14 weeks’ notice but again a longer run-in of six months is advised. Traffic management orders need six weeks’ notice or preferably two months.

6.5 Once an application is received

The events team holds a weekly meeting to assess applications, and to decide whether it has sufficient information to put the event to consultation. The level of consultation depends on the size and nature of the event and whether there are any contentious issues (for instance, when assessing applications for Peckham Square the team has to consider that this venue has a potential for over-use). A list of the events is sent to ward councillors, the police, parks managers and licensing.

Stakeholders, including friends groups, local cafes, businesses, and tenants and residents associations are all consulted. The event organisers are required to put up their own notices regarding the event. For large, complex or contentious events, an events safety advisory group meeting will be held with all relevant council officers and external bodies invited.

Events are very rarely turned down. If they are, it is usually either because the information supplied is incomplete or because there are questions regarding the competency of the organisers to manage a safe event.

The application directs applicants to downloadable information on licences and licence application packs. Applicants need to send copies of their licence applications to the police and environmental health as well as licensing. There are no guidelines on traffic management for outdoor events and officers are aware that these need to be developed. Officers currently work with event organisers on a bespoke basis.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Guidance, advice and support are available at any time. There are useful guidelines on the website on licensing, health and safety precautions, event promotion, accessible events, event evaluation and event funding.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are nine local authority parks and spaces in Southwark that have premises licences but these do not cover alcohol. The premises licences are for Burgess Park, Camberwell... Green, Dulwich Park, Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, Goose Green, Lucas Gardens, Peckham Rye Common, Peckham Square and Southwark Park.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

All council officers working on events are based in the same building under the same directorate. There are very good communications between them. There is also a ‘fusion’ group, led by the events team, which brings together all those in the council who have an involvement with events, from youth or health workers to town centre managers.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

Southwark produces all its own marketing and follows corporate guidelines. The local authority has 30 official marketing campaigns. There is not a specific ‘campaign’ for events but the events programme is promoted within the ‘cultural tourism’ campaign. The events team also arranges direct marketing and promotion for the main season of events. All events can be entered in the online Southwark Events Diary. Southwark manages its own event Facebook pages and the events team also updates its own pages on the website.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Southwark initiated the London Events Forum (LEF) and facilitates the forum. Although only recently established, the forum is rapidly increasing the opportunities for cross-borough partnerships, benchmarking and joint working. Southwark is also overseeing LEF’s Capital Ambition programme of London-wide improvements to local government events infrastructure.

Cross-borough working on creative projects has proved quite difficult, although there have been a few successes, such as the Southern Exposure film project with Lambeth and Lewisham.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The Thames Festival says it has excellent working communications with Southwark and appreciates the officers’ ‘can-do’ attitude and significant support, not only in funding but also in advocacy and facilitating high-level partnerships for the festival. Southwark works closely with the Southwark Arts Forum and one of the events development officers has taken on the contracting and managing role for the I Love Peckham Festival, SE15 Creative Network, and Boundless, Southwark’s disability arts network.

Southwark has a strong, positive working relationship with the police events planning team and the police licensing team. The police do not charge Southwark for any of its own events, but do charge for commercial events. For smaller events, the safer neighbourhood teams provide support. London Borough of Sutton Outdoor arts events and activity

The London Borough of Sutton forms part of outer London. It covers an area of 43 km² (16.6 square miles) and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It is one of the southernmost boroughs of London. The borough has three parks with Green Flag Award status.

1 Staffing

There is no events team or anyone specifically responsible for events. There is no arts team. A freelancer delivers an outdoor event each year.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

- Mayor of Sutton’s charity events
- IMAGINE festival
- Take Part, Take PRIDE
- Sutton Christmas lights switch-on
- Shopping events
- 24 farmers’ markets
- markets
- other high street events (around 12 per year)
- environmental fair event annually
- Hackbridge Carnival supported by the local schools and church of Hackbridge

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

There is no information about events organised by the other parts of the council. The town centre manager organises markets and Christmas lights, etc.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

- Marie Curie Cancer Care event annually
- Belmont Festival
- Wandle Festival

Events organised by the Rotaries:

- Music in the Park, Beddington Park
- Cheam Fair
- Carshalton Carnival

St Helier Festival is organised and run by local residents who belong to Sutton Federation of Tenant and Resident Associations’ (SFTRA) and is supported by Sutton Housing Partnership, local safer neighbourhood teams and the borough. Sutton Housing Partnership (under the umbrella of the borough) manages around 10 residents’ association fun days per year through SFTRA.

2.4 Commercial arts events

There are circuses and funfairs. Smarter Travel Sutton organises an annual sustainable travel event, supported by Transport for London. There are ‘green events’, organised by Eco Local.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

There is an events calendar on the website.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The council uses the Health and Safety Executive’s Event safety guide for guidance. There is no one set of policies used throughout.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits:

- participation opportunities
- seeing, taking part, questions and talking to people
- easier access to community
- reaches more people
- encouraging community to feel and work together
- opportunities to volunteer at the event • inclusion • roads to employment • a way of engaging young people and reducing the fear of crime • welcomes all ages • reaches a diverse audience • breaks down barriers and mistrust between generations • outdoor events are great platforms for launches • provides a platform for engagement in the Cultural Olympiad • attracts new footfall • revitalises public spaces

Problems: • weather • annual events may have limitations

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages: • council connection • gives a higher profile for the creative industries in regenerating the town centre and the use of the new stages

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Not applicable.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

• more events, a focused approach, a joined-up thinking with other departments • easier access to council departments relevant to organising community events • arts partnerships – to work with local authority officers and other partners, to produce high-quality outdoor arts • artists to work with local people in a range of ways • to embed high-quality artistic practice in the regular programming • getting local business involved and engaged with festivals • working with arts partners will help provide networks • provide new public spaces • a tailored mentoring programme with an arts partnership, for example, Zap Arts • funding – better signposting on funding for community groups; easier access for funding streams – shorter application forms

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

There are targets and without funding events will not run. £40 per annum for town centre.

4.2 Funding for council events

There are very few arts events in the borough. Those that exist are frequently funded directly through the borough. Small grants are available for artists to take part in The IMAGE festival. Who decides on other events’ funding depends on what sort of event it is.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Not known.

4.2 Fundraising and sponsorship

Not known.

5 Support for festivals and events

Lots of political support from all parties, including MPs and support via local committees. Each area organises events.

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The deputy leader takes the lead on Take Part, Take Pride. A community champion leads for the local residents (Sutton Tenant Federation Association) St Helier Festival and the local community outdoor events.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

The Sutton Housing Partnership, the management company for the council’s housing, provides fundraising and event training for all council tenants. The Sutton Federation of Tenant and Resident Associations (SFTRA) is a voluntary organisation for resident association and tenants in Sutton and works with Sutton Housing partnership and the borough providing advice and training on a smaller scale. 5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

None available but the licensing officer advises on all safety and organising aspects of events and encourages use of the event manual.

5.4 Equipment resources

None are available.

5.5 Maps and site plans

These are held by town centre manager.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

There is no or little information on the website.

6.2 First points of contact

The key departments to contact, depending on the venue, would be licensing, parks, highways. The main directorate would be environment and leisure.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

As there is no events team the requirements change according to the first approach.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

As there is no events team the requirements change according to the first approach.

6.5 Once an application is received

As there is no events team the requirements change according to the first approach.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

All organised event enquiries should be directed through licensing department, but also the Safer Sutton Partnership, which includes the police, who are very keen to be involved and very supportive with advice for organisers of events.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are three premises licences in the open space.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

None known of.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The council has poster sites around the borough which can be used by other people and there is a council magazine going to all households, which can be used to advertise.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

- South London Arts Partnership

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

- South London Arts Partnership
- Zap Art
- local radio
- Arena
- police
- Scout and Guide Movement
- SCVS
- Residents’ associations
- Army
- Friendly hands
- Sutton Tenant Federation Association
- Eco Local
- London Transport

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The council is working on a three-day arts-led festival to celebrate the renewal of Sutton High Street. It is working with Zap Art to embed high-quality artistic practice in the regular programming of the ‘arts-centre-without walls’, to demonstrate the newly-installed events infrastructure working to its full potential. Through the work of Zap Arts, there will be a platform for arts work that encourages local people to share experiences, knowledge and skills. London Borough of Tower Hamlets Outdoor arts events and activity

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is an inner London borough. It has a population of 215,300. The 1,978 hectares within its boundaries include many diverse parks, gardens and open spaces. The borough has six parks with Green Flag Award status: Bethnal Green Gardens, Island Gardens, Mile End Park, Mudchute Park, St George’s Gardens and Victoria Park.

1 Staffing

There are two festivals and events officers working within Tower Hamlets arts and events service, with a manager who has additional areas of responsibility for the arts programme in the borough. The team is responsible for the borough’s programme of outdoor events. Tower Hamlets’ arts and events team works with long-term freelance staff as core office personnel, plus a range of contractors, consultants and suppliers.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

Approximately 90-100 events take place each year, with various levels of involvement from the events team. Approximately 10 of these are directly organised or delivered by the team including Paradise Gardens, fireworks, Baishakhi Mela, plus 2012-related events and other one-offs.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The sports development team also delivers events.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

There are a large number of community-led events.

2.4 Commercial arts events

In 2009-10 these include: Madstock, Lovebox Weekender, Tiesto concert, Field Day, and Underage, as well as funfairs and corporate events.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

Please see 2.1.

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

- major event policy — currently in draft form, due for Cabinet July 2010
- creative industries strategy (draft stage)
- public art strategy (draft stage)

The arts and events service plan contributes and responds to Tower Hamlets’ strategic plan and partnership plan.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Support for community festivals and events helps to improve the quality of people’s lives, promotes community cohesion, brings visitors to the borough and contributes to local economies. Tower Hamlets administers a grants scheme for festivals and in the coming year will fund 25–30 events.

Work with the commercial event sector brings events such as the Radiohead concerts and the annual return of the Lovebox and Underage festivals to Victoria Park. This raises the profile of the borough, contributes to the local economy, showcases local artists and provides first-class events for people in the borough.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages: • experienced dynamic team • good park-based venues • central/east London location • a strong pool of local artists and arts organisations

Disadvantages: • not many ‘town square’ type spaces • all the disadvantages associated with an inner London borough, from crime to traffic congestion

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

• feedback on events programmes • one to one ‘snapshot’ surveys at events • freepost feedback cards • event organisers’ surveys • online surveys • complaints • premises licence consultation periods

The arts and events service is responsible for managing the systems and staffing to undertake monitoring and evaluation and liaising with third-party organisers to gain monitoring information. It summarises the findings of face to face and other surveys.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

• additional imaginative corporate and commercial events would produce extra income to fund the free, participatory events programme in the borough and meet the financial challenges in the immediate future • expansion into use of empty council-owned properties as events venues • additional staffing resources and greater connections across London would help

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

The income generated by outdoor events is approx £25,000 in 2009–10. Targets will rise dramatically in years 2010–11 and 2011–12.

4.2 Funding for council events

The commercial income is added to core funding and helps the borough to fund its free flagship events: Paradise Gardens and fireworks. This also facilitates levering-in considerable additional funds from sponsorship, grants, commercial activity on site and other sources. The Baishakhi Mela has some core funding committed for two years but needs additional fundraising effort.

All of these events then have a mix of grant funding, trading income, sponsorship, in-kind support.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Events not organised by the borough can be supported by the events fund – a £45,000 fund – supporting small community events with grants of up to £3,000. The grants panel is made up of the borough arts and events staff. Additional funding for events also comes from the borough’s 2012 unit (most of this is focused on Paradise Gardens). Tower Hamlets’ equalities team supports specific event work on equalities themes with approx £100,000. Decisions are agreed by arts and events staff and equalities and diversity staff.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

Most responsibility for fundraising is with officers though they may also use freelance specialists.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

None identified.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Tower Hamlets offers training and seminars for non-council event organisers.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

Guidelines are available. A toolkit is also available.

5.4 Equipment resources

Some basic signage, tents and use of equipment are held in the resource bank. 5.5 Maps and site plans

Site plans are required by the events team.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

Information is available on the website.

6.2 First points of contact

All event enquiries are referred to the arts team, which initially sends the applicant the toolkit.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

A description of the event plan of action for the event and confirmation of insurance is required.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Three or six months’ notice depending on the scale of the event.

6.5 Once an application is received

The applications are received by the arts team who set up a meeting with the applicant.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

The arts and events service is responsible for the contractual arrangements for the use of parks and open spaces, road ways (for street parties and processional work) and provides the link and signposting to internal council departments and external partners for example, the police. The arts and events team also coordinate the borough safety advisory group for major events. The arts team also have an events toolkit.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

None.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

- planning groups for specific events (usually major events)
- quarterly safety advisory group meetings
- direct contact on an ad hoc basis
- arts and events website
- individual event websites for the Baishakhi Mela, East End Film festival and Paradise Gardens
- circulated event diary

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

The arts and events team has a three-days a week marketing officer post with a remit to market in-house events and work with commercial and third sector partners to market the event programme. This will use all the main marketing channels from viral and web-based to posters and flyers. For some projects specialist external marketing and press staff are contracted in.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

There is occasional cross-borough work – for example, East Film festival, which works across boroughs and via the CREATE festival programme with the five Olympic host boroughs.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

In-house staff work with all of the major commercial events hosted in the borough and their marketing and public relations teams.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

The team works with Attitude is Everything [an agency set up to improve Deaf and disabled people’s access to live music] on access at street arts festivals – specifically Paradise Gardens 2008, 2009, 2010. It also worked with University of East London to evaluate the impact of festivals on community cohesion – this reported in autumn 2007. London Borough of Waltham Forest Outdoor arts events and activity

Waltham Forest is an outer borough of east London. It is a mix of built up residential development, though one-fifth is made up of forest, reservoirs, open spaces, parks and playing fields. Of the 3878 hectares within its borders, over 200 are managed by the borough as open space. In addition to its two parks with Green Flag Award status it is also one of five London boroughs designated as a host borough for 2012 Olympics. The population numbers 223,200, 35 per cent of whom are from ethnic minorities.

Within the borough there are no purpose-built performing arts venues or commercial cinema. The two assembly halls play host to a range of community-led concerts and theatre productions. Continental Drifts and Masquerade 2000 are the only two Arts Council England regularly funded organisations based in the borough.

1 Staffing

Waltham Forest has a dedicated events team within the arts events and halls service group. The service reports to the people policy and partnerships directorate. There are two events officers and all other services are contracted in as and when required.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

The arts and events team delivers a culturally diverse programme, including the key summer events. Some of these events have been running for over 20 years and are very well established.

- Waltham Forest Mela
- Chingford Day
- Green Fayre
- Young People’s Caribbean Carnival
- Leytonstone Car-Free Day
- Light Up Langthorne Park
- fireworks

Within the borough there are fine examples of public art initiatives, including the Hitchcock monument in Jubilee Gardens, Leytonstone.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

None known.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

- Chingford Village Festival
- Walthamstow Festival
- E17 Art Trail
- Leytonstone Festival
- Leytonstone Art Trail
- Waltham Forest Drama Festival
- E17 Jazz
- Walthamstow Folk Club

2.4 Commercial arts events

Commercial events include pub-based music and theatre. Parks host commercial funfairs on an occasional basis.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

Events are listed on the website. Organisers are encouraged to submit their own events.

www.walthamforest.gov.uk/index/whats-on.htm

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

The council has recently launched its new cultural strategy. 3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits:

- more than 80 per cent public satisfaction with local festivals offer
- council members are very supportive of the arts in the borough and this is evidenced by increased investment in the festivals programme

Problems:

- occasional neighbourhood issues about parking
- some events are at full capacity and there is a need to limit growth in numbers

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages:

- festival and events programme celebrates and communicates diversity and social cohesion within the borough
- attracting new audiences to different parts of the borough including open spaces and town centres
- provides a platform for local creative product
- improving engagement in arts

Disadvantages:

- occasionally the outdoor events present crowd management issues
- risk to community cohesion where events become a site for other conflicts

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

Quality control is exercised through the collection of customer feedback by events and promotions teams at events. Information gathered is considered and informs in-house improvement planning across festivals delivery. Community-managed festivals are monitored with reference to the outputs defined in their funding contracts. The council also uses ‘resident panel surveys’ to gather views of users and non-users. These show high public satisfaction.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

- Increased funding is now available for local community-managed festivals and specifically designated for Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Leyton and Chingford
- Waltham Forest is part of the five boroughs’ CREATE Festival. The aim is to diversify and improve directly provided festivals
- Relocation of Young People’s Caribbean Carnival to Leyton to improve distribution of festivals around the borough

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

Charges are applied to festivals in parks and open spaces. Charges are based on the volume of expected attendance.

4.2 Funding for council events

The council funds all directly provided festivals. A limited income is derived from hire of stalls.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

The council provides £150,000 in funding to voluntary sector organisations. Of this £50,000 is allocated specifically for community-managed festivals, some of which are outdoors.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

External funding and sponsorship has not been central to the sustainability of events. Sponsorship has in the main been in-kind advertising support to particular events.

5 Support for festivals and events

The council and residents value the festivals programme highly and this is reflected in the increased investment in directly provided and funded festival activities.

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

- councillors are very supportive of the festivals programme
- friends of the parks
- attendances vary between 4,000 and 10,000 with in excess of 50,000 attending directly provided outdoor events and festivals
- the residents’ panel surveys conducted during the summer 2005 of residents who have attended council events showed 80 per cent satisfaction 5.2 Event related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Arts and events training is delivered by Waltham Forest Arts Council/Apex Arts. The events team provides advice and support as and when required.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The events team provides advice and support as required. Organisations commissioned to deliver community-managed events are required to demonstrate competence in event management at the application stage.

5.4 Equipment resources

The borough has its own events equipment store, including staging, safety equipment and signage.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Site plans are used for all festivals.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

Applications to use open spaces are dealt with by the council’s greenspace group. The licensing section issues temporary event notices.

6.2 First points of contact

The events team is available for all enquiries.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

Details about the nature of event and anticipated numbers are required.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

This depends on the nature of the activity. Any event attracting an audience more than 500 should be discussed with greenspace officers in order that licensing implications may be considered at least three months in advance.

6.5 Once an application is received

The process is set out on the application.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Guidelines are attached to the application.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

There are four premises licences in the borough.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

Other departments are advised at confirmation of the event or festival arrangement.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

All events are marketed through the corporate communications team. The key communications tool is the Waltham Forest newspaper, distributed to every home and business in the borough.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

Waltham Forest is working in partnership with the five-borough cultural festival CREATE which produces joint marketing of the cultural and festivals offer. CREATE is inspired by the 2012 Olympic Games and takes place in late June and July.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

Waltham Forest provides information to a range of web-based listings including Visit London, GLA campaigns initiatives, London councils as well as commercial press.

8 Additional information/examples of best practice

‘Light Up Langthorne’: this new event was delivered as a one-off to launch the Cultural Olympiad. The park is in one of the borough’s most deprived and ethnically diverse areas and anti-social behaviour had created a perception of the park as unsafe. The light-up event presented circus performers working with fire and light, provided an exhibition of artists working with light and involved art installations using 2012 candles. The event attracted more people than were expected and attenders gave positive responses. Customers’ return showed that residents rated the event as excellent and said that they would come back again to events in the park. Light Up is now a regular event and officers are exploring new ways in which the park can be used for cultural activities. London Borough of Wandsworth Outdoor arts events and activity

The London Borough of Wandsworth is an inner London borough. It has a population of over 284,000.

The 3,427 hectares within its boundaries include many diverse parks, gardens and open spaces which cover over 670 hectares.

Wimbledon Park, managed by the London Borough of Merton and Richmond Park, managed by the Royal Parks partially fall within the borough boundaries.

1 Staffing

There is an events team that works with teams for filming, the arts and a local gallery. The events team has three people full-time and one part-time.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

Events:

- fireworks
- music at the bandstand
- national events planned for 2012
- civic, armed forces, and remembrance events
- Holocaust Memorial Day
- elderly away days

Arts:

- arts festival
- artists’ open house
- photo competition (with filming team)
- young performer showcase
- community outreach projects
- activities organised by the Pump House Gallery – talks, art education, fairs, etc

Filming:

- film awards and screenings

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

The economic development office organises several festivals and carnivals, such as York Road Carnival, Balham Music Festival, and Lavender Hill Festival. The libraries organise Black History Month, Children’s Holiday Activities, Summer Reading Challenge, and so on. The sports development section also organises a wide range of outdoor events.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

- Furzedown Festival
- Battersea Arts Centre Theatre and Comedy Festival
- Wandle Valley Festival
- Putney Jazz Festival
- Putney Boat Race
- Battersea Park Peace Pagoda Festival
- Thai Festival
- Praise in the Park
- Rotarians Pensioners Christmas Day Party
- Tooting Carnival
- Old York Road Festival
- Roehampton Music Festival

2.4 Commercial arts events

Wandsworth has a history of commercial events. In Battersea Park there is an open air venue that is hired throughout the summer months. Commercial events include the Affordable Art Fair, Designer Wedding Show, Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair, and Wimbledon Arts Open Studios.

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

Throughout the year there are community outreach projects, outdoor art education workshops, talks, screenings, private views, launch parties and fairs. Also:

January

- Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair

February

- Battersea Arts Comedy Festival
- young persons schools filming project • photo competition exhibition • Designer Wedding Show

March • Affordable Art Fair

April • Putney Jazz Festival • Putney Boat Race • Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair

May • Wandsworth Arts Festival • Battersea Arts Theatre Festival • film seminar

June • Wandle Valley Festival • Furzedown Festival • film awards • Battersea Park Peace Pagoda Festival

July • Music at the Bandstand • national events planned for 2012 • Thai Festival • Tooting Carnival

August • Roehampton Music Festival • Praise in the Park

September • Old York Road Festival • Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair

October • Affordable Art Fair • Designer Wedding Show • artists open house • photo competition launch

November • Wimbledon Arts Open Studios • fireworks • BFI Fireworks Family Learning Project

December • Rotarians Pensioners Christmas Day Party • Young Performer Showcase

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

Wandsworth has an open spaces strategy, a cultural strategy, an events strategy and – in draft – an arts strategy.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Benefits: • local cultural programme

Problems: • impact of events on open spaces

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

Advantages: • a local cultural programme • income-generation • tourism and visitor attraction • economic development

Disadvantages: • potential for complaints • horticultural maintenance • impact of events on open spaces

3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

External events are monitored through meetings and management plans. The event operations manager, events manager and parks police attend major events. The operations manager attends medium-sized events to monitor and evaluate. Parks police are allocated to major and medium-sized events and they also monitor small events.

The Metropolitan Police, licensing, noise team, fire brigade, emergency planning, public transport, highways team and parks teams are informed of events. Planning and debrief meetings and notes are made for developing future events.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

Extra staffing, funding and more sponsorship is needed. A pan-London events toolkit and application form would be helpful.

4 Funding for festivals and events

Festivals and events are funded internally by the council and externally through funding applications.

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

£1 million income is generated by events and film

4.2 Funding for council events

Fireworks is funded internally and ticketed so its cost is zero. Arts events are funded partly by the council and partly by external funding sources, including Arts Council England.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

The council offers grants to help local artists and organisations deliver arts projects. Individuals can apply for up to £500 and groups can apply for up to £4,000. The grant can cover up to 70 per cent of a project’s total costs. The council has a community fund which provides one-off grants up to £5,000.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

There is a sponsorship and fundraising officer (in the parks team) who can help with advice and information.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

The arts, events and filming teams all support festival and event organisers to maximise the development of their events.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

The team refers events organisers to food hygiene courses and gives them one-to-one training where it is needed. The film team holds seminars on subjects such as distribution, scriptwriting, and funding.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit

Guidelines about management and risk-assessment are provided to event organisers, as well as layout plans and advice on design and delivery of events. There is currently no toolkit, but the events operations manager gives step by step support to delivering an event.

5.4 Equipment resources

There is a wide range of technical equipment available for hire.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Maps are available through the website.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event

6.1 Pre-application information

There is information on the website and from the events team.

6.2 First points of contact

The events team or arts team are the first points of contact. The events team will ask organisers to complete an application form before any confirmation is made.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

There is an initial events enquiry form that is followed by the application form. Event organisers are asked to provide the following information:

- stages: size, number
- marquees: size, number
- whether alcohol is to be sold/distributed and/or music played
- the event’s website address
- sponsorship/branding required
- details of the previous event (if it has been held before)

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Events need to be booked at least two months in advance. Larger events may require at least 10–12 months’ notice.

6.5 Once an application is received

Meetings are held at the site and elsewhere to discuss event aims and objectives, technical aspects of the event, layout, safety, publicity, planning and licensing.

Confirmation of the event is sent, along with an invoice. Payment is made before the event. Then the draft management plan is developed and risks assessed.

A final management document is agreed and approved. This document includes layout plans, insurance, contractors’ details, first aid, emergency and litter plans. It also sets out roles and responsibilities and a timeline of the event. The timeline includes security briefings, key event timings. This document will be referred to throughout the event to communicate with the organisers.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

See 5.3 above.

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

Licences for outdoor events are applied for as required. There are no premises licences for any of the parks in Wandsworth.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The cultural strategy officers’ group, representing all council depts holds monthly meetings and monthly event diaries are distributed to other council departments. Telephone contact, meetings and information are shared as necessary.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

All external marketing is approved with the events team. The council has an internal design and graphics team, which is responsible for producing publicity for council-organised events together with the team that is producing the event. Wandsworth’s website promotes events in the borough.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The arts team belongs to South London Arts Partnership and Central Arts Partnership. The team is coordinating Big Dance activities with Southwark and Lambeth. The events team belongs to the London Events Forum. An online application form is being produced with Southwark and other boroughs.

The ‘short film’ fund is facilitated with Westminster Arts, with the filming team from Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Film London. The filming team attends Film London meetings with other London boroughs. Wandsworth is a member of Go South Go.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

The council has links with Film London. It holds meetings with key cultural stakeholders under the banner of Creative Wandsworth and has partnerships with external organisations to deliver projects. City of Westminster Outdoor arts events and activity

The City of Westminster borough occupies much of the central area of London. 116 parks and open spaces including four royal parks and 18 parks with Green Flag Award status can be found within its borders. In addition to the open spaces with the borough, the city owns and maintains East Finchley cemetery in the borough of Barnet.

The borough has a population of 236,000 residing in its 2204 hectares.

1 Staffing

There is a special events team, who manage filming, film premieres, etc.

2 Event programme/activity

2.1 Events organised by the council

700 events per year on the streets and squares in the borough, plus 2,500 filming days.

2.2 Events organised by other parts of the council

West End Live is organised by the communications team. The council contracts out programming and production of events in the borough.

2.3 Events organised externally by arts organisations/community groups

All events, apart from West End Live, are organised by external parties: these could be community groups, arts organisations or private companies. Westminster City Council special events team acts as the coordinator and facilitator.

2.4 Commercial (arts) events

- Carnaby Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street events (public events for retail areas)
- regular hire of the north terrace in Leicester Square
- film premieres (public event for film distribution companies)

2.5 Events programme (arts events or inclusive of arts activity)

Events are listed on the website: www.westminster.gov.uk/services/business/specialevents/forthcoming-events/

3 Policies/strategies/monitoring/aspirations

3.1 Policies and strategies

All events delivered are in line with the Westminster City Council policies and strategies. Events organisers are encouraged to consider waste management, recycling and sustainability in line with the ‘go green’ policy; the recycling team at Westminster can also offer advice on this. Arts events will be in line with the arts unit’s cultural strategy. Westminster special events team is revising its policy – to be completed by April 2010.

3.2 Benefits and problems of outdoor arts events and activity

Facilitating events on the public highway enables a large number of people to enjoy free events in central London. It also potentially generates business/income for the area and promotes the Westminster and London as a tourist destination. There are also challenges involved, as Westminster residents and businesses as well as transport partners can be affected by the events. It is the council’s aim to create a balance in this and to minimise impact.

3.3 Advantages and disadvantages as a provider or host of outdoor arts events and activities

None identified. 3.4 Monitoring, evaluation, quality control: which aspects of these events are monitored, how and by whom, and how the results are used

The city monitors most events. There is no formal structure for evaluation other than via the licensing operational safety planning groups. Debriefs are held for all major events. For smaller events debriefs are part of the next planning meeting for future events.

3.5 Aspirations: desired improvements to the existing events programme and what might make these improvements possible

The main desired improvements are to improve processes and activities for events and to update the policy and guidelines for the special events team in the lead-up to the Olympics, not necessarily to improve the event programme.

4 Funding for festivals and events

4.1 Income-generation targets/charges for use of parks

The targets and charges for parks are under the remit of the parks manager.

4.2 Funding for council events

The special events team does not fund events in Westminster, apart from West End Live, which is organised by the communications team.

However, for events organised by community groups organisers are advised to contact local ward councillors to apply for potential funding as each ward has a £100,000 budget assigned for community projects.

4.3 Funding available for non-council events

Same as above.

4.4 Fundraising and sponsorship

The arts unit has some guidance notes to send out to organisers to help them in the process of finding sponsorship or funding. The special events team can send this out to organisers also. However, this is only guidance and the city’s art and special events team tends not to get involved in these activities.

5 Support for festivals and events

5.1 Advocates for outdoor arts events and activities

Councillors are very supportive of outdoor events; one is the lead member for special events, another for the Olympics.

5.2 Event-related training/seminars for community-based organisations

Not applicable.

5.3 Guidelines and information available for event organisers pre-application (for example, fact/advice sheets/event toolkit)

The events team liaises between the police and other council departments to ensure marches, parades and political demonstrations go ahead with as little disruption as possible. The team aims to fulfill the council’s obligations to ensure event and filming activities are carried out safely, with a minimum of disruption to other highway users.

It gives guidance to event organisers and filming companies on the following issues:

- public health and safety
- crowd control
- proposed locations and routes
- noise and environmental parameters
- licensing
- road closures and parking suspensions
- more information about filming on Westminster’s public highways or to applying to hold an event is available online
- information role

The team also acts as a single point of contact within the council for information concerning public events in Westminster and coordinates council services necessary to support such activities. It is in the process of updating guidelines; these will include information on how to organise an event as well as guidance about licences.

5.4 Equipment resources

No equipment is available.

5.5 Maps and site plans

Maps and plans are available on the website. showing areas and parking bays. These can be a little out of date so organisers are advised to make on-site checks.

6 The process: how an outdoor arts event organiser goes about staging an event in the borough

6.1 Pre-application information

Event applications are on the council website. The event manager is available for consultancy and a meeting. The website is very informative and should list all necessary information.

6.2 First points of contact

The switchboard is manned by a call centre in Scotland which has been briefed about the area and about what type of questions might be asked about events. The centre is also sent event-specific information in the lead-up to an event.

6.3 Requirements from organisations on first contact

Two written references are required, detailing the applicants’ knowledge, skills and ability to manage the proposed event. Also required are: a copy of the emergency plan, a risk-assessment, a draft event programme, a copy of public liability/all-risk insurance cover for the entire period of occupation, and a site plan.

6.4 Timelines advised/required for non-council event organisers

Minimum three months

6.5 Once an application is received

If the event proposal is approved the organiser will be asked to set up a planning meeting (licensing operational safety planning group) including external London-based agencies such as transport services, police and emergency services to discuss the proposal in full.

6.6 Guidelines, advice, support available after first contact

Guidelines are on the website: www.westminster.gov.uk/services/business/specialevents/events/

6.7 Existing premises licences in the borough

The City of Westminster currently holds premises licences for 10 areas.

7 Communications/marketing/partnerships

7.1 Communications with other council departments

The team communicates with other council teams daily, including parks, highways, parking, cleansing and recycling, building control, planning, arts, communications and sport and leisure.

7.2 Marketing events in the borough

There is no active marketing campaign for events in the city, but we do have a list of forthcoming applications.

7.3 Cross-borough communications and projects

The city works with neighbouring boroughs on major events and projects, such as Notting Hill Carnival, Chinese New Year, New Year’s Day Parade.

7.4 Communications and collaborations with non-council organisations

None known. The event organiser contacts the council

The events manager will offer advice according to each event. Information required from organisers will vary according to the event and the timing of first contact.

Pre-application information is available on the website. (Temporary event notice forms can also be downloaded here)

Some organisations may initially interface with the arts development manager (eg when commissioned to deliver an outdoor event).

The events manager is a ONE STOP SHOP for events organised by non-council organisations and individuals. Parks and arts staff will also pass enquiries to her. The event manager sends all forms needed. If the event is larger and more complex she will refer the organiser to licensing.

Applicants must send their applications (hard copies) to 7 bodies to assess:

- Fire Service
- Police
- Child Protection
- Licensing
- Building Control
- Health & Safety
- Emergency Planning

Timelines advised Applications for events (to parks and licensing) can come in as little as 2 weeks before an event. The absolute minimum period for a temporary event notice is 10 days. 2½ months is required for premises licence to allow for a 28 days notice period.

There is consultation and if there are objections the application goes to the licensing board which meets regularly and consists of councillors and advisory officers. There are no exemptions or reductions to licence fees.

The events manager supports organisers through the licence and park hire application process, liaising with other departments and officers where required.

Guidelines for event sustainability (making events ‘green’) are issued. The event organiser contacts the council

(First point of contact has yet to be confirmed). The applicant is directed to the online application

The application is for all events in borough including parks, streets and public buildings. The event application form clearly sets out the process. No supporting documents are required on first contact. Applicants are advised that their first application be put in 9-12 months before an event.

Applicants are advised to read the Brent event guide and the timeline factsheet before completing the application online. Applicants are advised that 6-9 months are required for licence applications. Traffic management orders need 12 weeks notice and must be agreed before this time. Events management plans are required within 2 weeks of event approval.

The completed application submitted online alerts appropriate council officers about the event.

An agreement to hire parks is issued only with safety advisory group (SAG) approval. Members of SAG may visit a site during an erection and event. A safety advisory group debrief is held after the event.

Safety advisory group meetings are requested if:

- the event requires premises licence
- alcohol is to be sold
- a bonfire or fireworks are proposed
- the event requires road closure. For more complex events, more than one meeting may be required.

If a safety advisory group (SAG) meeting is required, event organisers are invited to upload their event management plan and risk assessments, including site plan and emergency plan.

Brent health & safety and licencing department confirms receipt of the application, requests clarification on some points, and asks applicants to attend an informal meeting. OR confirms that applicants may continue with their planning. Applicants are reminded to check the ‘Timeline Factsheet’ and check times for permissions. Guidance, advice and support are available at any time. Brent officers work closely with event stakeholders through event-specific advisory forums. The event organiser contacts the council

The senior arts development officer can advise on funding and event development.

The senior arts development officer assesses applications and the ability of organisers to deliver a good & safe event.

For a funding application the organiser must complete an ‘event checklist’. This alerts officers to the need for a licence, a road closure, information on environmental health etc.

Parks Office If a park needs to be booked, the organiser must submit a proposal giving their details, dates, times, site required and the infrastructure that will be used.

Organisers are put in touch with the relevant council officers. The senior arts development officer may act as a conduit between them.

Once an application to hire a park is approved, a hire agreement is issued by parks.

Timelines advised Parks and open spaces request 3 months notice for a small event and at least 6 months for large events. 10 days notice is required for a temporary event notice. 3 months notice is required for a premises licence (or longer for more complex events). 8 weeks notice is needed for traffic management orders.

Advice and support is available at any stage of the process. Organisers are invited to meet with the arts team, who run through all requirements and elements in the event guide relevant to their event, offering a bespoke support service.

Local ward councillors are consulted on the proposed event. Stakeholders including friends groups are consulted, especially for new events.

Festivals and events cannot access funding unless they have completed the event checklist which ensures they have the appropriate licences, permissions, safety paperwork etc. Guidelines on traffic management are attached to the application form. Organisers are later required by parks to submit risk assessments, insurance and licence details and site plans. The event organiser contacts the council

The parks hire officer sends a simple form to the organiser

The form is returned to parks hire office

If the request is a simple tennis court / football pitch booking, the parks hire officer deals with the request. If the request is for an event, the parks hire officer sends to the technical manager, part of the communications & engagement team. The technical manager then assesses the event.

The technical manager sends a temporary event notice application if needed to the organiser, plus other information. This does not constitute a toolkit. The technical manager may also refer the organiser to sources of funding.

If a temporary event notice application is needed, the event organiser must send the application to the Safety advisory group (SAG) including licensing.

If the application is straightforward and there are no police objections, licensing issues a temporary event notice to the organiser and advises the technical manager.

For large or complex events the application will go to the events licensing safety advisory group, administered by the technical manager who will act as a conduit between the organisers and the various council departments, plus limited communication with police and other official bodies.

Applications go to the licensing panel if there are objections

The technical manager issues a park hire contract with conditions, and signposts the organiser to:

Traffic management Health & safety Environmental health

Process Map London Borough of Greenwich The event organiser contacts the council via ‘event applications’ on the council website, or via the event manager who is available to meet and consult. Printed application forms are also available by writing to the events management team.

Application requires two written references detailing the applicant’s knowledge, skills and ability to manage the proposed event.

The application requires a copy of the emergency plan, a risk assessment, a draft event programme, a copy of public liability/all risk insurance cover for the entire period of occupation and a site plan.

Application received The events team check the availability of the facility and make contact with the organisers. No refundable deposit is required at this stage. Formal consultation with park and open spaces stakeholders starts, including other council departments, the police, health & safety advisor, other council officers, eg emergency planning, licensing etc.

Timelines advised 10 months

A licence is issued subject to appropriate licensing information being received.

Before an event is approved the council undertakes an informed decision process based on the following criteria:

- Risk management
- Financial risk
- Legal constraints
- Local residents
- Security and safety
- Impact on park and open space
- Size, location etc
- Quality
- Event organisers’ experience
- How the event meets the council’s priorities

The area park officer undertakes a post-event site visit.

The area park officer and the event manager have an on-site meeting.

The event organiser completes an event feedback report. The event organiser contacts the council

The switchboard is staffed by a call centre in Scotland who have been briefed about the area and what type of questions might be asked in relation to events. (They are also sent specific information in case of queries in the lead-up to an event.)

Organisers may download an event application from the council website. The website is very informative and lists all necessary information.

The event manager is available to meet the event organiser

The event application requires two written references detailing the applicant’s knowledge, skills and ability to manage the proposed event.

Timelines advised Minimum 3 months

If the event proposal is approved the organiser will be asked to set up a planning meeting with the licensing operational planning group, including external London-based agencies such as transport services and emergency services to discuss the proposal in full. | Local authority key information | OUTDOOR EVENTS POLICY | FUNDING | |--------------------------------|-----------------------|---------| | | Is there a specific outdoor events policy? | Is there an income target for parks and open spaces? | Is there a fixed scale for park hires? | Are there exemptions from park hire fees? | | Barking & Dagenham | no, but included in park and cultural strategies | no; only for funfairs | yes but minimal hire charges | yes fees can be waived | | Barnet | no | no | yes | reduced rates according to organisation | | Bexley | no, but fits into openspace, arts and cultural strategies | £30K | yes | yes | | Brent | no, cultural strategy | in review | yes | no | | Camden | culture and events strategy is under review | £40K | yes | community groups are exempt | | City of London | no | no | yes | yes | | Croydon | no, but links into broader strategies | no | yes | reduced rates according to organisation | | Ealing | no, but they feed into other council policies | yes £1 million | yes | no | | Enfield | arts and culture strategy is in consultation | not known | yes | no | | Greenwich | no, included in community engagement strategy | no | yes | yes, council, community and voluntary groups exempt | | Hackney | no, included in the open space strategy | £30K | yes | yes park usergroups not charged | | Hammersmith & Fulham | yes | yes | yes | community groups only pay admin fee | | Haringey | included in open space strategy | no | yes | not known | | Harrow | no, but mentioned in cultural strategy | no | no | yes | | Hillingdon | no | not specific | yes | community, charity and council groups exempt | | Hounslow | no, in development as part of arts strategy | information not available | yes | no | | Islington | no, but in development | no | yes | yes council groups | | Kensington & Chelsea | no | yes £25K parks £50 filming | yes | no | | Kingston Upon Thames | no | no | yes | discounts | | Lambeth | yes | yes £300K | yes | yes | | Lewisham | no, but is included in sustainable community, cultural and open spaces strategies | no | yes | yes | | Merton | no, but fits into the cultural and open spaces strategies | yes £56K | yes | yes | | Newham | in development | yes | sliding scale | no but reduced rates | | Redbridge | no | yes £25K | yes | yes | | Richmond | no but feeds into other strategies | yes £11K | yes | yes dependant on organisation/event | | Southwark | yes have event policy but under review | yes £20K | yes | yes | | Sutton | no | yes | not known | not known | | Tower Hamlets | in development | £250K | yes | no | | Waltham Forest | no, but included in recent cultural strategy | not known | varies | not known | | Wandsworth | yes | yes, £1 million (including film) | yes | no | | Westminster | in development | yes | not known | not known | | Local authority key information | FUNDING | Is there a specific outdoor arts events budget? | Is there funding available for non-council events? | |--------------------------------|---------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------| | Barking & Dagenham | yes £25K commissioning budget held by arts development officer plus event specific budgets | can submit proposals for commissioning budget; events can receive funding if incorporated into umbrella festival such as the big dance | | Barnet | non specific | information not currently available | | Bexley | yes | small grants from Bexley Arts Council | | Brent | yes plus an additional £53K raised through sponsorship etc | arts grants available | | Camden | not listed | yes various grants ranging from £750– £20,000 | | City of London | no | they consider charities and arts/cultural events for grants | | Croydon | yes plus additional money from sponsorship | yes as grants | | Ealing | yes £1 million which events team generate | yes – through ward forum grants and community chest | | Enfield | varies according to events | no grants but there is a small amount for commissions | | Greenwich | no but different directorates have budgets | not known | | Hackney | no | yes £100K though it is strategic commissions to fulfil the aims of the cultural framework not grant aid. Other non-council grants available | | Hammersmith & Fulham | limited | arts groups encouraged to apply to small grants scheme | | Haringey | no but several departments contribute to events | 7 area Assemblies have £50K each to be used as the local residents decide | | Harrow | no | no arts funding but possible through community grants scheme | | Hillingdon | no | no, only advice on non council funding sources | | Hounslow | yes small budget for commissions and development | no | | Islington | no | grant aid totalling £17k per annum | | Kensington & Chelsea | no | yes but not event specific | | Kingston Upon Thames | no | possible through neighbourhood small project grant | | Lambeth | yes | no grants, only advice | | Lewisham | yes | yes | | Merton | not for arts events but yes for green spaces events | yes, small grants for arts | | Newham | yes for the large scale summer events & smaller events all year long | yes there are grants for outdoor activities | | Redbridge | no | no but encouraged to apply to Redbridge Arts Council | | Richmond | the arts fund a few events | small grant systems for voluntary sector | | Southwark | yes | yes | | Sutton | yes for specific events | small grants to take part in the IMAGE event | | Tower Hamlets | yes | yes £45K via the events fund | | Waltham Forest | yes | yes £50K for community managed festivals | | Wandsworth | no | yes | | Westminster | no | local ward councillors have £100K budget for community projects | | Local authority key information | FUNDING | SUPPORT FOR FESTIVALS AND EVENTS | |--------------------------------|---------|----------------------------------| | | Is there a dedicated fundraising / sponsorship officer? | Is training provided for community organisations? | Is there an event tool kit or event information pack? | Is there an officer to provide advice/ support? | Is there web based information? | | Barking & Dagenham | yes in communications team; events and arts officers also fundraise | no | no | yes | yes | | Barnet | no | no | no, but there is a park booking pack | yes | no | | Bexley | no | no | yes | yes | yes | | Brent | no | yes occasionally | yes | yes | in development | | Camden | no | yes occasionally | yes | yes | yes | | City of London | no | no | no | yes | yes | | Croydon | not one specific person | no | no | yes | yes | | Ealing | events team all fundraise; councillors, communications and Head of Service provide leads | no | no | yes | no | | Enfield | no | no | no | yes | yes | | Greenwich | no | no | no | yes | yes | | Hackney | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | | Hammersmith & Fulham | the events team raise funds and sponsorship | no | in development | yes | yes | | Haringey | no | no | yes | yes | yes | | Harrow | no | no | no | yes | yes | | Hillingdon | no | no | no | yes | no | | Hounslow | no | in development | yes | yes | yes | | Islington | no | yes | no | yes | yes | | Kensington & Chelsea | no | yes | in development | yes | no | | Kingston Upon Thames | no | yes for risk | no | yes | no | | Lambeth | no | assessments | no | yes | yes | | Lewisham | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | | Merton | yes | no | no | yes | no | | Newham | yes | in development | yes | yes | in development | | Redbridge | no | no | no | yes | yes | | Richmond | no | no | no | yes | yes | | Southwark | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | | Sutton | no | yes through Sutton housing partnership | no | no | no | | Tower Hamlets | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | | Waltham Forest | no | yes via Apex Arts | no | yes | yes | | Wandsworth | yes | no | no | yes | yes | | Westminster | no | no | yes | yes | yes | | Local authority key information | PROCESS | COMMUNICATIONS | |--------------------------------|---------|----------------| | | Is there a one stop shop for event organisers? | Is there a SAG or similar? | How many parks have premises licences? | Is there a designated communications officer for arts and events? | Does all publicity get produced through the communications department? | | Barking & Dagenham | yes: event officer | yes | 6 | no | yes unless partnership events | | Barnet | no | no | 5 | no | no | | Bexley | no | yes | 5 | no but Danson Festival | yes has its own marketing | | Brent | being devised now | yes | 4 | yes | yes | | Camden | yes | no | 0 | no | no | | City of London | yes | no | 0 | no | yes | | Croydon | no | yes | 3 | yes | no | | Ealing | no | yes | 1 | no | yes | | Enfield | no | yes | not known | yes | not all | | Greenwich | no | yes | 8 | yes | not all | | Hackney | the events team | yes | 4 | no | yes | | Hammersmith & Fulham | no | no | 1 | no | yes | | Haringey | no | yes | 0 | no | yes | | Harrow | no | no | 0 | no | yes via Westminster | | Hillingdon | no | no | 4 | no | yes | | Hounslow | yes | no | 1 | yes | no | | Islington | no | yes | 15 | no | yes | | Kensington & Chelsea | no | no | 0 | no | yes | | Kingston Upon Thames | no | no | 0 | no | no | | Lambeth | yes | yes | 0 | yes | yes | | Lewisham | no | yes | 5 | no | yes | | Merton | no | no | 3 | yes | yes | | Newham | no | no | 0 | yes | yes | | Redbridge | no | yes | 5 | yes | yes | | Richmond | no | no | 0 | no | yes | | Southwark | yes | yes | 9 | no | yes | | Sutton | no | no | 3 | no | no | | Tower Hamlets | yes | yes | 0 | yes | yes | | Waltham Forest | yes | yes | 4 | no | yes | | Wandsworth | yes | yes | 0 | no | yes | | Westminster | yes | yes | 10 | no | yes | Main contacts for outdoor arts events in the London boroughs

ACE Clive Lyttle clive.lyttle@artscouncil.org.uk 020 7606 6114

BARKING & DAGENHAM Janice Hunte Events Manager janice.hunte@lbbd.gov.uk 020 8227 3093

Julia Pearson Events Co-ordinator julia.pearson@lbbd.gov.uk 020 8227 3591

Paul Hogan Head of Service Leisure & Arts paul.hogan@lbbd.gov.uk 020 8227 3314

Catherine Miller-Basi Group Manager for Arts & Events catherine.miller-basi@lbbd.gov.uk

Michael McCormack Arts Development Manager michael.mccormack@lbbd.gov.uk 020 8724 8797

BARNET Jakki Redmond Greenspaces Support Manager jakki.redmond@barnet.gov.uk 020 8359 7829

Lloyd Gee lloyd.gee@barnet.gov.uk 020 8359 7760

BEXLEY Christine Ryan Parks & Open Spaces Manager christine.ryan@bexley.gov.uk 020 8303 7777 ext 2528

Rachael Stanway Principal Arts Officer rachael.stanway@bexley.gov.uk

Jan Williams Parks Project & Policy Officer ja.williams@bexley.gov.uk

Saskia Delman Arts Manager saskia.delman@bexley.gov.uk 020 8294 6991

BRENT Phil Bruce-Green phil.bruce-green@brent.gov.uk 020 8937 5633

Vashti Waite Festival Manager (maternity leave) vashti.waite@brent.gov.uk 020 8937 3113

Aida Esposito Cultural Development Manager aida.esposito@brent.gov.uk 020 8937 3536

Stephen Gilby Festival Manager (maternity cover) Stephen.gilby@brent.gov.uk 020 8937 3113

BROMLEY Amanda Davies Arts Development Officer amanda.davies@bromleytime.org.uk

Susie Clark B.A.C. my time susie.clark@bromley.gov.uk 020 8313 4778

John Gledhill Head of Business Development 020 8461 7527

David Brockhurst Colin Brand Head of Culture 020 8313 4107

CAMDEN Caroline Jenkinson Head of Arts & Tourism caroline.jenkinson@camden.gov.uk 020 7974 1685

Chris Mellor Senior Arts Development Manager chris.mellor@camden.gov.uk 020 7974 1658

CITY OF LONDON David Pearson Director of Libraries, Archives & Guildhall Art Gallery Dept david.pearson@cityoflondon.gov.uk 020 7332 1850

Carol Boswarthack Support Services Manager Carol.Boswarthack@cityoflondon.gov.uk 020 7332 1123

Mick Bagnall Film Liaison Officer mick.bagnall@cityoflondon.gov.uk 020 7332 3182

Helen Kearney Policy Officer, Town Clerk’s Department (no head of culture/arts) helen.kearney@cityoflondon.gov.uk 020 73321481

CROYDON Jenny Gunston Festival Manager jenny.gunston@croydon.gov.uk 020 8760 5707

Deborah Spencer Conference & Hire Manager deborah.spencer@croydon.gov.uk 020 8253 1038

Miriam Nelkin Arts Manager Miriam.nelkin@croydon.gov.uk 020 8686 4433 ext 63023

EALING Gus Corcoran Festivals & Events Contract ManagerGus@theeventumbrella.com 01227 266008

Veronica Meehan Festivals & Events Contract Manager Veronica@theeventumbrella.com

Nick Buckley Community Event Co-ordinator nick@theeventumbrella.com 020 8825 5386

Lesli Good Head of Arts, Heritage & Libraries LGood@ealing.gov.uk 020 8825 6443 / 07717 860586

Carol Swords Programmer Cswords@ealing.gov.uk 020 8825 9806 EALING continued

Zoë Archer Exhibition & Events Co-ordinator Zarcher@ealing.gov.uk 020 8825 9803

Anne Ninivin Gallery Manager Aninivin@ealing.gov.uk 020 8825 9807

Helen Walker Manager Hwalker@ealing.gov.uk 020 8825 9805

Steve Marshall Assistant Director, Leisure MarshallSt@ealing.gov.uk

ENFIELD

Lorraine Cox Cultural Services Manager Lorraine.cox@enfield.gov.uk 020 8379 3659

Zoe Prosser Arts Officer zoe.prosser@enfield.gov.uk 020 8379 1466

Simon Gardener Head of Leisure and Culture simon.gardner@enfield.gov.uk

GREENWICH

Andrew Bragg Events Manager (Technical) andrew.bragg@greenwich.gov.uk 020 8921 6408

Tracey Sage Senior Arts Development Officer tracey.sage@greenwich.gov.uk 020 8921 6109

vacant Head of Arts, Culture and Film 020 8921 5449

Sam Eastop Senior Assistant Director, Department of Culture & Community Services sam.eastop@greenwich.gov.uk

Emma O’Shea Greenwich Town Centre Manager 020 8921 4463

HACKNEY

Donna Walsh Corporate Events Co-ordinator donna.walsh@hackney.gov.uk 020 8356 3410

Andy Kneebone Events Coordinator andrew.kneebone@hackney.gov.uk 020 8356 8215

Georgina Mackie Assistant Events Coordinator georgina.mackie@hackney.gov.uk 020 8356 5378

Ceryl Evans Head of Museums & Culture ceryl.evans@hackney.gov.uk 020 8356 7610

John Wade Head of Green Spaces john.wade@hackney.gov.uk 020 8356 7605

HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM

Heather Thomas Events Officer heather.thomas@lbhf.gov.uk 020 8753 3805

Penny Boyd Business Development Manager penny.boyd@lbhf.gov.uk 020 8753 3806

Donna Pentelow Head of Arts, Events & Registration Donna.Pentelow@lbhf.gov.uk 020 8753 2358

HARINGEY

Lewis Taylor Head of Parks lewis.taylor@haringey.gov.uk 020 7263 5001

Marcia Connell Principal Events & Operations Manager marcia.connell@haringey.gov.uk 020 8489 4543

Diana Edmonds Assistant Director, Culture Libraries & Learning diana.edmonds@haringey.gov.uk 020 8489 2759

HARROW

Jo Saunders Service Manager, Arts & Events Jo.Saunders@harrow.gov.uk 020 8424 1906

Elena Pippou Culture & Arts Manager

Oluwatoyin Odunsi Artistic Programme Manager, Harrow Arts Centre olwatoyin.odunsi@harrow.gov.uk 020 8416 8964

HAVERING

Michelle Morris Events Officer (maternity leave) michelle.morris@havering.gov.uk

Martin Stanton Parks & Open Spaces Manager martin.stanton@havering.gov.uk 01708 432360

Mark Etherington Arts Co-Ordinator Mark.Etherington@havering.gov.uk 01708 433950

Simon Parkinson Head of Service simon.parkinson@havering.gov.uk

HILLINGDON

Sacha Austin Culture & Events Management saustin3@hillingdon.gov.uk 01895 277301

Kris Holliday Arts Development Officer (currently only contact – no head of culture) kholliday@hillingdongrid.org 07590 192481

Yassar Ghauri Performance & Business Improvement Officer YGhauri@hillingdon.gov.uk 01895 558 349 Ext 8349

Sue Drummond sdrummond@hillingdon.gov.uk

Howard Griffin hgriffin@hillingdon.gov.uk

Paul Richards prichards@hillingdon.gov.uk 01895 250 814 HOUNSLOW

Sandra Bruce-Gordon Arts, Museums, Libraries Client Manager, London Borough of Hounslow Sandra.Bruce-Gordon@hounslow.gov.uk 07949 404 923

Michelle Morley Business Resources Manager, John Laing Integrated Services Michelle.morley@laing.com 07766 416 585

Eimear McKernan Parks Community Development Officer, John Laing Integrated Services eimear.mckernan@laing.com 07717 735 058

Yasmin Kassam Events Manager, John Laing Integrated Services yasmin.kassam@laing.com 07920 021449

Hamish Pringle Head of Leisure and Culture, London Borough of Hounslow hamish.pringle@hounslow.gov.uk 020 8583 2504

ISLINGTON

Sheena Gladding Community & Events Officer Sheena.Gladding@islington.gov.uk 020 7527 3307

Pete Courtie Arts Officer pete.courtie@islington.gov.uk 020 7527 3021

Dave Bamford Area Parks Manager – East david.bamford@islington.gov.uk 07825 098 459

Niall Forde Licencing Officer niall.forde@islington.gov.uk 020 7527 3227

ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON & CHELSEA

Adrian Hodgson Filming & Special Events Officer adrian.hodgson@rbkc.gov.uk 020 7341 5133

Rebecca Pelly-Fry Arts Development Officer rebecca.pelly-fry@rbkc.gov.uk 020 7361 2916

Denis Housden Head of Leisure denis.housden@rbkc.gov.uk

Samenua Sesher Head of Culture samenua.sesher@rbkc.gov.uk 020 7361 2986

John Hampson Senior Strategic Officer – Arts & Culture john.hampson@rbkc.gov.uk

Joe Cohen-Evans Arts Information Officer joe.cohen-evans@rbkc.gov.uk 020 7361 3844

ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON

Marie-Claire Edwards Service Manager (Green Spaces) marieclaire.edwards@rbk.kingston.gov.uk 020 8547 5372

Kathryn Woodvine Arts Manager kathryn.woodvine@rbk.kingston.gov.uk 020 8547 5409

Shanta Bhagwandin Events Executive shanta@btconnect.com 020 8547 2507

LAMBETH

Angie Yeboah Events Officer angie.yeboah@lambeth.gov.uk 020 7926 6207

Emma Dagnes Events Manager eemadagnes@lambeth.gov.uk 020 7926 0759

Dawn Bunce Arts Development Officer dawn.bunce@lambeth.gov.uk 020 7926 0760

LEWISHAM

Liz Dart Interim Head of Community & Neighbourhood Development liz.dart@lewisham.gov.uk 020 8314 6115

Kellie Blake Events Manager kellie.blake@lewisham.gov.uk 020 8314 6578

Gemma Faye-Unwin Events Assistant gemma.faye-unwin@lewisham.gov.uk 020 8314 7321

Hilary Renwick Head of Cultural Services hilary.renwick@lewisham.gov.uk 020 8314 6359

Carmel Langstaff Arts Service Manager carmel.langstaff@lewisham.gov.uk 020 8314 7729

MERTON

Ash Akhtar Arts Development Officer ash.akhtar@merton.gov.uk 020 8545 3399

Christine Parsloe Leisure & Culture Development Manager christine.parsloe@merton.gov.uk 020 8545 3669

Emily Miller Arts Development Officer emily.miller@merton.gov.uk 020 8545 4197

Alan Powell Principal Licensing Officer alan.powell@merton.gov.uk 020 8545 4005

NEWHAM

Sue Meiners Head of Events & Sponsorship sue.meiners@newham.gov.uk 020 3373 0407

Catherine Chappell Senior Events Officer catherine.chappell@newham.gov.uk 020 3373 4797

Evangelos Vanezis Events Officer evangelos.vanezis@newham.gov.uk 020 3373 0347 NEWHAM continued

Haitham Ridha Events Officer haitham.ridha@newham.gov.uk 020 3373 3078

Nick Ely Parks Team Leader – Engagement nick.ely@newham.gov.uk 020 3373 6055

David Curtis Service Group Manager – Community david.curtis@newham.gov.uk 020 3373 4151

Sean Sherman Arts & Heritage Manager sean.sherman@newham.gov.uk 020 3373 4118

Kate Denny Arts Manager kate.denny@newham.gov.uk 020 8460 2000 ex 47821

REDBRIDGE

Alison Selby Events Manager (maternity leave) alison.selby@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 2858

Anita Verma Arts Development Manager anita.verma@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 2818

Shakira Greaves Community & Festivals Officer shakira.greaves@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 2855

Lee Bird Parks Development Officer lee.bird@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 3178

Samantha Goodey Arts Development Officer samantha.goodey@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 2856

Bonita Cattle Arts Development Officer bonita.cattle@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 2854

Shermain Philip Arts Development Officer shermain.philip@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 2857

Vicky Dewit Head of Cultural Services vicky.dewit@redbridge.gov.uk 020 8708 3426

RICHMOND

Ian Dodds Head Of Culture ian.dodds@richmond.gov.uk

Miranda Stern Arts Coordinator m.stern@richmond.gov.uk

Anna Ramsey Arts Event & Development Co-ordinator anna.ramsey@richmond.gov.uk 020 8831 6460

Rachel Tranter Head of Arts r.tranter@richmond.gov.uk 020 8831 6462

Rosie Whitney-Fish Dance Coordinator 020 8831 6463

Angela Ivey Principal Tourism & Marketing Manager a.ivey@richmond.gov.uk

Yvonne Kelleher Service Development Manager yvonne.kelleher@richmond.gov.uk 08456 122660

SOUTHWARK

Catherine Morgan Events Development Officer catherine.morgan@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 3645

Fitzroy Lewis Events Development Officer fitzroy.lewis@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 3084

John Benton Senior Events Officer john.benton@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 0778

Miranda Clarke Event Locations Officer miranda.clarke@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 0741

Paul Cowell Events, Film and 2012 Manager paul.cowell@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 0857

Alexandra Reynolds-Cocroft Events Assistant alexandra.reynolds-cocroft@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 3422

Millie Cameron Corporate Events Officer millie.cameron@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 7207

SOUTHWARK continued

Anya Whitehead Head of Culture anya.whitehead@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 3552

Coral Flood Arts Manager coral.flood@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 5231

Catherine Hamilton Heritage Collections & Operations Manager catherine.hamilton@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 2169

Judy Aitken Heritage Collections & Operations Manager judy.aitken@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 2169

Samantha Lahai-Taylor Culture Support Officer samantha.lahai-taylor@southwark.gov.uk 0207 525 3415

Adrian Whittle Head of Culture, Libraries, Learning & Leisure Adrian.whittle@southwark.gov.uk

Richard Parkins Health Safety & Licensing Unit Manager richard.parkins@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 5767

David Franklin Team Leader – Community Safety & Enforcement licensing@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 5800

Chris McCraken Service Manager – Community Safety & Enforcement chris.mccraken@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 1501

David Sole Parking Services & Development Manager David.Sole@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 2037

Rosie Thornton Principal Area Park Manager (Acting) rosie.thornton@southwark.gov.uk 020 8394 7534

Chas Wood Network Operations Supervisor chas.wood@southwark.gov.uk 020 7525 2162 SUTTON Karen Holt Policy & Projects Officer karen.holt@sutton.gov.uk 020 8770 5000 ext 4610

Elina Harlas Theatre & Arts Support Officer elina.harlas@sutton.gov.uk 020 8770 6984

Emily Fahey Town Centre Manager emily.fahey@sutton.gov.uk 020 8770 5125

Bernadette Kemble Events & Project Officer bernadette.kemble@sutton.gov.uk 020 8770 5621

Victoria Nunn Theatre & Arts Service Manager (vacancy) victoria.nunn@sutton.gov.uk 020 8770 6986

TOWER HAMLETS Alison Denning Festivals & Events Officer alison.denning@towerhamlets.gov.uk 020 7364 7907

Pam McCrea Senior Arts & Events Manager pam.mccrea@towerhamlets.gov.uk 020 7364 7913

Festivals & Events Officer 020 7364 7914

Steve Murray Head of Arts stephen.murray@towerhamlets.gov.uk 020 7364 7910

WALTHAM FOREST Eamonn O’Machail Head of Arts & Events Eamonn.OMachail@walthamforest.gov.uk 020 8496 3589

Dwight Forrester Events Assistant Dwight.Forrester@walthamforest.gov.uk 020 8496 3589

Glen Watson Senior Events Officer glen.watson@lbwf.gov.uk 020 8496 4623

Clive Morton Head of Cultural Services clive.morton@walthamforest.gov.uk

WANDSWORTH Alison Smith Events Manager asmith@wandsworth.gov.uk 020 8871 7534

Suzz Bell Events Operations Manager suzzbell@wandsworth.gov.uk 020 8871 7534

Helen Renwick Arts Manager hrenwick@wandsworth.gov.uk 020 8871 7380

Jack Adam Head of Security, Arts, Events & Filming Services jadam@wandsworth.gov.uk 020 8871 7636

Justine Kenyon Arts Officer jkenyon@wandsworth.gov.uk 020 8871 7037

Susie Gray Arts Partnerships Manager sjgray@wandsworth.gov.uk 020 8871 8476

WESTMINSTER Levana Deutschman Commissioning Manager Events, Filming & Contingencies ldeutschman@westminster.gov.uk 020 7641 5967

Tim Owen Commissioner Events, Filming & Contingencies town@westminster.gov.uk 020 7641 5929

Genevieve Menard-Hayles Events & Filming Group Manager gmenardhayles@westminster.gov.uk 020 7641 2390

Charlotte Fergusson Arts Liaison Officer cfergusson@westminster.gov.uk 020 7641 8955

Valentina Wong Arts Information Officer vwong@westminster.gov.uk 020 7641 2409

David Ruse Director of Libraries druse@westminster.gov.uk 020 7641 2496

NON COUNCIL ORGANISATIONS GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY Brian Oakaby brian.oakaby@london.gov.uk 020 7983 4794

Kim Richmond-Bailey kim.richmond-bailey@london.gov.uk 020 7983 4969

Patrick Loy patrick.loy@london.gov.uk

LONDON COUNCILS Anne-marie Pickup Principal Policy & Project Officer (Culture, Tourism & 2012) anne-marie.pickup@londoncouncils.gov.uk 020 7934 9756

Catherine Hillis catherine.hillis@londoncouncils.gov.uk

ROYAL PARKS Adam Farrar Head of Events, Arts & Filming afarrar@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk 020 7298 2079

Sarah Cook Events Manager scook@royalparks.gsi.gov.uk 020 7298 2066

VISIT LONDON Heidi Truman htruman@visitlondon.com